


Cursed Roommates

by wjmoon



Category: MYTEEN (Band), Produce 101 (TV), UNIQ (Band), UP10TION, VICTON (Band), X1 (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Horror, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bad Humor, Crushes, Gen, M/M, No Major Character Death, Platonic Relationships, Slow Burn, a lot of other untagged pdx cameos, all the roommates are ghouls, bad jokes everywhere, i was thinking a lot about scooby doo, might change the tags later, mild horror elements, no one gets hurt or anything i promise, please read at your own discretion, the pov changes but it should be easy to keep track of, this is a crack fic in disguise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-10
Updated: 2019-10-05
Packaged: 2020-06-26 00:45:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 19
Words: 80,289
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19757128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wjmoon/pseuds/wjmoon
Summary: When Jinhyuk needs a cheap place to stay at the last minute, he rents a room with four roommates who may or may not be human at all.OrSeungwoo, Seungyoun, Yuvin, and Byungchan are all ghouls who take in a homeless human out of the kindness of their spooky hearts.





	1. The New Place

**Author's Note:**

> This is a crack fic that took on a life of its own, and I’m not sorry at all!

Jinhyuk stood before a dilapidated building that looked more suited to house rats and spiders than human beings, but it wasn’t a good time for him to go around judging the state of perfectly good architecture even if it wasn’t ideally livable. Truthfully, he would have rented a space under a toll bridge if it had four walls and a working toilet.

He wasn’t in the position to be picky, but still, he could allow himself a moment to question the creaky building before him with an equally unsettling sign that read  _ Beware of Dog  _ with the word dog scratched out with a ballpoint pen.

He wasn’t given an address exactly so if anyone asked him where he was living he would have a difficult time coming up with an answer. When Jinhyuk asked  _ for _ the address over a well worded and thoughtful email, the landowner/building owner insisted that the directions to the apartment be physically mailed to him to a post office box, and for some reason he didn’t find this particularly strange at all. 

Now, with crumpled up (hand drawn) directions in hand, he found himself on a desolate street in front of an apartment building that a developer might not bother evacuating before tearing to the ground. He cracked his neck and approached, unsure of what awaited him on the other side, but it didn’t matter because he would have somewhere warm to sleep that wasn’t a bathhouse. 

The front door to the place was locked which was in a way comforting, but he wasn’t sure how he was supposed to get in without a key. The lock was old school and could have probably been kicked off, yet it still felt wrong to pick or break it.

On the adjacent wall was a callbox with little lightless buttons next to tabs that were probably supposed to be labeled with the names of whoever lived inside, but they were blank and the acid of the paper had yellowed with age. Pollen and dust collected underneath the glass panes. If not a key, it would have been nice if the landowner would have included a handwritten map of which button to press to call inside.

He stepped back and looked up. The windows were dark and covered, but he was sure a light would tip him off. He scanned up the floors to the top with no lights in sight, but what he did see was a very conveniently placed clothing line with a pair of drying boxer shorts dangling directly above. 

He counted the floors and made a guess of which apartment call box the boxers probably belonged to. It was a shot in the dark, but what else could he do?

He pressed and waited, wondering if there was supposed to be any kind of buzzing sound or static from the speaker box, but there was nothing.

“Hello?” 

He waited, but no one answered. He pressed again for good measure. “Is anyone there?”

Nothing.

Not sure what else to do, he resorted to pressing buttons starting from the first. With each push, he became more anxious. It was starting to feel like he was the target of a big practical joke or worse. The more he thought about, the sketchier the whole situation felt. There weren’t any people walking around, no traffic, and there was a single parked car on the side of the street that could have been left there to rust in the mid ‘80s. If he was going to get robbed or murdered, that was the place to be. Still, he needed somewhere to stay for the night and this was his best chance.

After trying the last call button to no avail, he started banging on the door which rattled against his fist a lot louder than he expected it to.

“Are you finished,” a staticky voice asked through the call box that was previously doing such an excellent job at being inactive, sounding tired.

“Hello?” Jinhyuk said, looking around and over his shoulder in case he was being watched.

“Just pull on the handle,” the voice said. “You’ve used doors before, yes?”

Jinhyuk’s cheeks flushed. He  _ had  _ tried the door. 

“I did,” he said, grabbing the handle. “But it’s—.”

The door opened without a hitch, making a nasty noise as if it had been rusted in place. A brisky draft from the inside of the apartment building escaped as he held it open, sending a shiver down his spine. Once he stepped in, the iron door slammed behind him, echoing throughout the building against the metal interior. 

Down the dimly lit hall he could see several doors to apartments that broke up water-stained, peeling wallpaper depicting what appeared to be a foxhunt. Unusual for apartments these days, but he wasn’t renting for the interior design. 

Something about the way the sconces flickered on and off reminded him of candlelight, but in a haunted house kind of way. Before he could creep himself out, he tried to remember which way his apartment was. Before venturing down a dark hall, he remembered the hand drawn map also had a number written on the back.  _ 211\.  _ So at least he knew he needed to start on the second floor.

Between the elevator and the stairs, the stairs felt like the safest option, but why, he wondered, did everything in that building creak so much. Each step he took was a certain gamble, but if he fell through, he wouldn’t have far to drop. The real threat there was the tetanus.

The second floor wasn’t as dark as the first, and the wallpaper was a normal green color without the little men in red coats. He relaxed. Maybe it wasn’t so bad. The next step was to find apartment 211. 

Starting with 201, he followed the apartment numbers around the corner, wondering what his neighbors would be like when he finally stopped in front of apartment 211. Except he had a problem: there were two apartment 211’s directly across from each other.

He looked at each door. The door on the left should have been marked 211, and the door on the right should have been marked 212, but then there were no other apartments on the floor after them to make an educated guess from.

He sighed. He wished there had been a number to call for help, but it’s not like it was going to get any weirder. All he had to do was knock on one to find out if it was supposed to be the other, unless…

He pulled out the wadded sheet of paper and examined the back. Next to the number 211 was a tiny arrow pointing down. Could his apartment have been on the first floor?

He looked down at his feet, just in case and spotted the worn corner of a welcome mat in front of the door on the right next to four pairs of black shoes.  _ This has to be it. He said I would have roommates. _

It was a three bedroom apartment, and the price was a steal. He was only really renting a room, but the kitchen, living rooms, and bathrooms were listed as common areas. If he could endure living with a bunch of sports majors in college, he could handle having a few roommates in a shared space.

He knocked on apartment 211 on the right and held his breath not knowing why he was so nervous. Moments later the door was opened by a boy not much older than him and strikingly handsome. Jinhyuk felt like he shouldn’t have been looking at him at all.

“Hello,” he said, not seeming disturbed in the slightest. That probably meant that Jinhyuk either had picked correctly or that his neighbor was easy going. Either way it was a win.

“Hi,” Jinhyuk cleared his throat. “I’m looking for the landlord. I’m new.”

The stranger stared back at him without saying anything. He wasn’t sure what he was supposed to say.  _ Is he going to help me or not? _ “Uh, my name is Jinhyuk.”

“Ah!” He clapped. “Jinhyuk! You made it, finally. I see you came to the right door.”

He smiled politely.  _ Was he expecting me? _

“I’m Seungwoo,” he extended his hand to shake Jinhyuk’s. “You didn’t have any trouble finding the place did you?”

“No! None at all!” He said, even though he could barely get through the front door earlier  _ and  _ was berated by an anonymous, peeved voice in a speakerbox.

“Come in!”

Jinhyuk followed him in, in awe of the place. For the price and for the way it looked on the outside, he was expecting a breeding ground for roaches and Y. Pestis, but not only did it seem perfectly livable, it was a huge upgrade from his last temporary home.

“Actually,” Seungwoo stopped him, grabbing him by the arm in a most unsettling way. “You have to leave your shoes outside.”

Jinhyuk looked down at his dirty boots next to Seungwoo’s almost immaculate toes and blushed. Of course, it was a communal space. They would expect for the roommates to keep it clean for everyone. He hurried and put his shoes next to the other four pairs.

Seungwoo continued the tour from there. 

“The living room is here and open to use whenever you want. We just ask you to keep it clean. The kitchen is over there on the left, and you’re welcome to anything in the fridge as long as you pitch in with groceries. The bathroom is over there where the bedrooms are. I’m sure you know how to act in a bathroom, but just in case, if you want to shower with someone, you’ll need to ask permission first! Privacy is our middle name! Your room is down the hall, first door on the left. Do you have any questions?”

Jinhyun needed a minute to take it all in. It all sounded quite reasonable, and yet for some reason, he felt like being rushed.

Seungwoo pulled out a stack of papers with colored tabs attached to the sides. “All you’ll need to do is sign your name on these dotted lines, and we’re good.”

Jinhyuk, not sure what to think about it, idly patted his pant legs for a pen. He felt like he should have probably asked questions or at least looked at his room first…

“Need a pen?” Seungwoo smiled, standing a little too close with his arm stretched out. Jinhyuk took the pen from him and examined it. It was a fountain pen and, from the looks of it, an expensive one. It wasn’t like him to analyze stationary, but something about the smooth mahogany wood and gold embellishments seemed a little  _ old fashioned  _ for someone like Seungwoo. 

“Is there something wrong?” He frowned. Something about the way he frowned made Jinhyuk want to sign every document in the world immediately without further hesitation ever again. 

“No, absolutely not,” Jinhyuk said signing his name not even noting the striking red color in the ink that spilled from the fountain nib or the dull ache in his arm as he wrote.

“Great!” Seungwoo snatched the papers away. “My room is right across from yours if you ever need anything.”

“Oh, you live here too?” He sat down on the sofa awkwardly. “Yeah, the others should be around here somewhere. Make yourself comfortable.”

“Thanks…” Jinhyuk wanted to ask something, but he was still feeling shy and a bit overwhelmed.

Seungwoo turned around and dipped his head over. “You were going to ask something?”

“Yeah,” he said. “The apartment number…”

“Yes?”

“There’s two of them.”

“Yes.”

“Is that an apartment A/B type of thing?”

“No,” Seungwoo said brightly and went into his room, closing the door behind him.

Jinhyuk was left in the living room not really sure how he got there, what was happening, and what he was supposed to do. With nothing left to do but unpack, he grabbed his bag and went to the room he was pretty sure belonged to him at least until the end of the contract whenever that was.  _ I probably should have read over that… _

The walls of his bedroom were freshly painted over white without any distinguishing marks or designs. There was an odd smell to it, but it was probably left over from the previous owner and would be replaced with the scent of his own fabric softener and cologne in no time.

Other than the fresh coat of paint and the weird smell, the room was rather unassuming. In the corner was a chest of drawers with a few broke nobs. Next to the door was a writing desk with a little green lamp, and next to the double bed with brown sheets was a nightstand with a different green lamp from the first (the bedside one was more of a chartreuse) and galloping horses printed on the shade. 

It was simple, but it was home and it was good enough for him. He plopped his bag onto the bed and unzipped. He didn’t have a lot with him, just a few sets of clothes, a toothbrush, some soap, and a notebook. Everything else he owned was at the other place, and he wasn’t too keen on going back to get it. 

The first normal thing he could do in his new apartment before meeting the other roommates was hang up some of his shirts in the closet. It was really just two button up shirts he needed for work, but he still didn’t want to get them wrinkled especially since he didn’t own an iron or a steamer yet. They were already kind of wrinkled, but he was hanging them up anyway.

He grabbed his shirts and took them to the closet in his new bedroom in his new apartment. He opened the door and screamed. 

The body of another boy similar in age was propped against the wall, his still face inches from his. Jinhyuk dropped the shirts on the floor and screamed. The eyes of the lifeless face flew open, and Jinhyuk ran for his life into Seungwoo who caught him and steadied him.

“What’s wrong???” Seungwoo asked.

Jinhyuk pointed into his room, his hand shaking uncontrollably. “There’s a body! A ghost!”

“Well, that’s rude,” a voice said behind him. Jinhyuk leapt behind Seungwoo, startled. “I don’t come into your house screaming and calling you names!”

“Jinhyuk,” Seungwoo said, stepping out from in between them. “This is Yuvin, one of our roommates. He rents the closet.”

“The closet?” Jinhyuk asked in disbelief. “What??”

Yuvin yawned and stretched.

“Do you know how hard it is to find any decent closet space in the city at this price?” He said sounding annoyed. “It’s practically a steal.”

He cracked his neck, and Jinhyuk watched him stumble into the kitchen. 

“You guys want any coffee?” He continued.

“I’ll have some,” Seungwoo said, following him.

“Me too!” A different person said coming from the living room. He had deep dimples, and Jinhyuk was sure he hadn’t seen him before. 

“Coffee?” Another person said from the bedrooms. Jinhyuk jumped again, startled. “But none for this guy.”

“This is Seungyoun, who rents the room next to yours, and Byungchan, who rents the air space,” Seungwoo said, finishing his roommate/landlord duties. 

“The… air… space?” Jinhyuk said, baffled.

“I don’t like to be tied down,” Byungchan said plainly. 

“It’s nice to meet you, Jinhyuk,” Seungyoun added.

Jinhyuk’s head spun.

“Is this everyone?” He asked, counting.

“Mhm,” Seungwoo said, taking a sip of his coffee. “Would you like some decaf?”

Jinhyuk shook his head. “No, thank you.” 

The others hunkered around the counter with their mugs. He felt left out, but that was fair. He was new, and they probably had been living together for a long time. He had also screamed at one of them which was probably incredibly rude, except for the fact that that said someone was sleeping soundly upright in his closet. Then again, he was renting the bedroom, not the closet exactly. 

He approached Yuvin, not wanting to leave things any weirder than they had to be. “I’m sorry I barged into your roo- closet and screamed at you.”

Yuvin smiled and poured him a cup too. “No problem, bro. Just knock next time.”

“Sure thing,” he said, accepting the coffee. He was glad to have something to do with his hands even if they were still shaking.

The coffee was good at least, but he wasn’t sure they had given them decaf.  _ Wait, I don’t need decaf. I’m a normal functioning adult! _ There were cookies on the table. It felt wrong to grab one, but his growling stomach betrayed him. He willed it to be quiet until everyone dispersed and he could sneak out to grab a bite to eat. 

“Are you hungry?” Seungyoun, who was nearest to him, said. “Have you eaten?”

He laughed awkwardly, clutching his mug. “I just got here, and I was going to grab something after.”

They were quiet, and he wanted to do something roommatey to make up for the drama he caused.

“Do you guys like chicken?” He offered. “I could order.”

“Ah, no one delivers out here,” Seungwoo said.

Jinhyuk sank. 

“We do a lot of cooking together though!” Seungwoo said. “Don’t we, guys?”

“Yeah!”

“Lots of cooking!”

“We do?” Byungchan asked. Yuvin elbowed him in the ribs. “Ah! We cook  _ all  _ the time!”

“Great,” Jinhyuk smiled. “What’s in the fridge?”

The four roommates looked at each other. 

Seungwoo reached into his pocket and pulled out a wad of money. “Why don’t you go to the grocery store and get us some meat.”

“Lots of meat.” Seungyoun said.

“Why kind of meat?”

“Legs!” Byungchan shouted. “Chicken legs.”

“And organs!” Yuvin added.

“Organs?” Jinhyuk said.

“You know, like gopchang,” Seungwoo said, making Jinhyuk feel at ease. “We love to grill all kinds of meat.”

“Ah!” He said, although it wasn’t something he normally grilled at home, he was in no place to judge anyone on their personal tastes. “I’ll get going to the market then.” 

He grabbed his jacket to leave.

“Don’t forget your map,” Seungwoo said. “Or you won’t be able to find your way back.”

“Oh, right.” He still needed to find out what his address was.

“Wait, I’m coming too,” Byungchan said. “I need some fresh air.”

He wasn’t really sure why Byungchan insisted on going to the market with him, but he was grateful because otherwise it would have been like he had just been chased out of the apartment by Seungwoo with the accompaniment of the other three roommates. Maybe he was just overthinking things. They were probably used to living at a faster pace than he was. Grilling meats together would certainly help him bond with them, and then he could live with their faster pace too.

With Jinhyuk not really familiar with the neighborhood, Byungchan lead the way. Just like earlier in the day, the best way Jinhyuk could describe it was abandoned, but after walking a few blocks and taking a few back alley cut-throughs, they found a small corner grocer with everything they could need.

“I saw you didn’t bring a lot with you,” Byungchan pointed out.

“Yeah,” he said, not really ready to explain why he was traveling light.

“While we’re here, you should go ahead and grab everything you need so you won’t have to come back,” he said shoveling toiletries into a basket without asking any questions.

“I don’t really have a lot of money right now,” Jinhyuk admitted. “I only have what Seungwoo sent for the food.”

“You can buy it with that,” he said, grabbing a pack of razors and shaving cream. 

“I don’t know if that would be right…”

“He said you should,” he dropped more things into the basket including moisturizer and face cleanser. “There will be enough for everything!”

Jinhyuk didn’t feel right about spending Seungwoo’s money at all, but Byungchan didn’t have much of a problem with it. He shoved things into the basket that Jinhyuk wasn’t sure he needed like rubber gloves and socks with padded soles, but it was at least  _ fun _ to shop with someone with this kind of energy. Byungchan finished his supply hunt with a box of bandaids and an extra set of bed sheets.

“Anything else?” He asked.

“I can’t think of anything,” Jinhyuk said. “You covered just about everything except for nuclear war.”

“Do you think you’ll need a gas mask?” He asked with genuine concern.

“No, no,” he laughed. “I think we’re good.”

Byungchan nodded and looked over their haul. “Well, then I guess we should get the meat then.”

Even though it felt earlier like he was being chased out of the house, now he was promoted to Byungchan’s cart pusher. He watched him put meat package after meat package into the basket. It must have been a fortune in cuts of beef and pork. There was no way they could eat it all, but Byungchan was in a meat trance.

“Hey,” Jinhyuk interrupted. “Should I get us some vegetables?”

“Why?” Byungchan looked at him like he had lost his mind.

“For wraps,” he said. “And digestion?”

“Oh… I guess.”

_ Was that the wrong thing to ask? _

“Sorry if you guys don’t eat plants or anything, I just like them.”

“Oh!” Byungchan brightened up. “Please get as many plants as you like to eat!”

Byungchan began tossing in fruits and vegetables on top of the pile of meat on top of the pile of supplies. There was no way Jinhyuk was ever going to eat all of these before they went bad unless he became the world’s most driven vegetarian, but perhaps it was best that he just roll with it. There was also no way they were going to have enough to pay for it all so once Byungchan had had his fun, he could just hang back and put everything back himself. Behind Byungchan’s back he grimaced. That was going to take forever.

“I think this should cover everything,” Byungchan said, rubbing his hands together. “Don’t you?”

“Yeah,” he said, excited that it was over. “Wait, do you guys drink?”

“Ah! Beer!” He exclaimed. He left and returned with a case in each hand. “Now it’s a party.”

Jinhyuk wrung his hand as the cashier, an elderly grandmother, wrung up the final total of their excessive haul. She called out an obscenely large amount, and he thought he was going to be sick. He counted out the bills one by one onto the counter. Somehow, by a stroke of luck or a miracle from the heavens, Seungwoo had given him the exact amount he needed for Byungchan’s shopping spree. He was so relieved he could have fainted.

They thanked the clerk and left. There wasn’t any way to carry everything back, so they took the cart with them which felt a whole lot like stealing. 

“Is this okay,” he asked timidly.

“We shop here a lot,” Byungchan explained. “The granny owns the place and she knows we’ll bring it back!”

Still, he didn’t like it at all. 

“How are we supposed to get these upstairs?” Jinhyuk asked, looking up at the old apartment building with their shopping cart full of household goods, meats, and plants. Even though it was getting dark out, the structure didn’t look nearly as creepy and unnerving as it did before. Not that it sparkled or anything, but having a new friend was definitely warming him up to the place.

“The elevator,” Byungchan said. Jinhyuk hoped the low lighting hid the fact that he felt like an idiot. 

“Right.”

Byungchan laughed. “I wouldn’t use it a lot though. We haven’t had it serviced in over a decade.”

He knew he was exaggerating, but he still felt more comfortable toting everything up one by one than riding in a death cage.

“What about all of the other people who live here?” He asked. “Do they complain about it.”

“No one else lives here.” 

The elevator made it to the second floor with its own squeaks and clunkiness. They pushed the cart to apartment 211 on the right and knocked. Seungwoo opened the door for them and gaped at their spoils.

“Wow, Jinhyuk,” he said in awe. “How many people are we cooking for?”

He tried to explain himself without throwing Byungchan under the bus. “I-.”

Seungwoo squeezed his arm and quietly said, “Welcome to the family.”

Yuvin and Seungyoun also approached the cart that was now parked inside their shared apartment, looking quite pleased. 

They rummaged through the cart, pulling out the items that needed to be refrigerated first. Seungyoun picked up the rubber gloves.

“Can I have these?” He said.

“Sure,” Jinhyuk said, surprised. 

“Thanks!” He hurried back to him room and slammed the door.

“Seungyoun, don’t think we’re cooking without you!” Seungwoo called out.

“I’m not!” A muffled voice said through the door.

“Don’t mind him, he’s just busy with his experiments,” Byungchan said to Jinhyuk in a way that was supposed to be reassuring.

“Experiments?” 

“Did you guys get ramen?” Yuvin asked, shuffling things around. 

“We have some in the cupboard,” Seungwoo left to dig them out. He returned with multiple red packs of noodles. “Can someone cook the rice?”

Jinhyuk’s body moved towards the kitchen, feeling the need to do something in the midst of the chaos. He poured out enough rice for five people and washed it.  _ What experiments? Are they drug dealers? Is that why this building is so sketchy? Am I going to jail? _

“I think it’s clean enough,” Seungwoo said, leaning back on the counter next to him. Jinhyuk’s fingertips had raisined in the water.

He looked up and lingered onto Seungwoo’s face. There was something different but interesting about it. Although he couldn’t place it, suddenly all of his questions vanished, and he couldn’t think of anything else except for finishing up the task in his hands. 

Dinner went smoothly. Jinhyuk washed the lettuce and vegetables that were apparently only for him while the others set up two pans to grill on on the table. The smell of charring cuts of meat filled the air behind him, and he felt normal finally. 

The table was round and fit everyone comfortable like it was meant for five people. He took a seat at the available spot, happy to be a part of the group. Familiar cuts of meat sizzled on the grill closest to him. He made a wrap with a piece of pork belly, and it was incredible. When and if he moved out, he would have to travel across town just to go to that same grocery store from the way the food melted in his mouth.

Everyone was talking and laughing together and drinking, and it was a great time. Jinhyuk noticed on the other side of the table on the other grill was something he had never tried before that he wasn’t sure he purchased.

He reached over to grab a piece, but was stopped by Seungwoo who greeted him with a wrap he made.

“Try this,” he said holding the wad to Jinhyuk’s mouth.

He smiled shyly and thanked him. 

“Tell me,” Seungwoo said, propped on his elbows. “What do you?”

“I work at a restaurant downtown,” he said with a full mouth.

“Interesting,” Byunchan leaned in, and Jinhyuk was suddenly sandwiched between the two. “So are there a lot of people there?”

“Yeah,” he said. “We get a lot of business during the day and on weekends, but I mostly work during the lunch rush.”

“How do they taste?” Byunchan’s eyes were wide.

“The food? It’s pretty good, I guess.”

“Fascinating,” Seungyoun added.

“Is it?”

“Not particularly,” Yuvin said, a little buzzed at that point. He hiccuped.

Jinhyuk heard a loud thump under the table followed by a yelp.

“I mean,” Yuvin clarified. “He’s fascinated by everything.”

_ Is this a good time to bring up the experiments?  _

Eventually, there were five full bellies and five tipsy boys. Jinhyuk forgot to ask about any of his most pressing questions such as the need for the rubber gloves or why the elevator hadn’t been inspected in so long. 

He wandered into his bedroom, half stumbling over his feet, followed by Yuvin who made himself comfortable in his closet. The sheets were surprisingly soft, and as he closed his eyes, it almost seemed like the horses on his lampshade were moving. 

It was a pretty ideal first night, but Jinhyuk had no idea what he had gotten himself into.


	2. Without a Map

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jinhyuk continues embarrassing himself in front of his roommates and has a plan to make it up to them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Get well soon, Byungchan.

Jinhyuk’s mind woke before his body did so he just remained in bed motionless for a while with his eyes shut, dreading the default alarm jingle set on his phone. The room was quiet, and his bed was soft and cushioned so he definitely wasn’t in a bathhouse. He wasn’t home either. This place smelled weird.

Then he remembered he was home, and if he opened his eyes he would see fresh paint, green furniture, and a closet that wasn’t his to hang his shirts in. That’s one thing he forgot to do last night was sort out his alarm situation with Yuvin. He had never had a roommate with whom to share such close quarters with, but he was sure if it was a problem, Yuvin was forthcoming enough to make sure he told him about it.

His other roommates lived in their own spaces — sort of. Seungwoo and Seungyoun each had their own rooms, and Byungchan somehow occupied the whole apartment. He hadn’t quite figured out how that worked yet.

In his own little room, he had slept very well, but the beer and overeating took its toll. He wasn’t hungover exactly, but if someone were to strike a gong within a hundred feet of him, he would have to kill them.

His alarm rang, and he forced his eyes open to shut it off before it disturbed Yuvin.

The light that came through the window was murky and yellowish from the uncleaned windows, but it was nice to see daylight from a place where there weren’t a lot of old, half naked men in towels. He shuttered. 

What he needed now was a hot shower and some breakfast so that he could head to work early to see what the commute time was like from the new apartment. It felt weird to go back to work all of the sudden, but maybe that would be what it took for him to feel normal.

He got up and headed towards the bathroom. It was clean as expected, but it had a distinct bleach smell that mixed with his headache.  _ At least it’s disinfected.  _

The water took a while to warm up, but soon steam filled the room and opened up his lungs. He took a deep breath and coughed like an old man. He hoped that it didn’t wake everyone.

Under the water, everything was clear. He wondered if he could just stay there all day without moving or being bothered. It was nice. It felt good to spend some time by himself.

Except when he opened his eyes, he wasn’t by himself at all. A pair of beady black eyes stared back at him and a long thin tongue flicked in his direction. Jinhyuk screamed and jumped away, almost slipping on the wet floor. The black snake slithered up the pipe and coiled itself around the showerhead. Jinhyuk screamed again. He grabbed a towel to cover himself and run for help, but the door burst open, followed by four startled roommates.

“Snake!” Jinhyuk shouted and pointed at the shower head. He panted out of breath with his back to the wall. He couldn’t get far enough away from it.

“Pumpkin!” Seungyoun cried out. He ran over to the snake and reached his hands up to it. The snake slithered into his hands and around his arms.

“Pumpkin???” Jinhyuk exclaimed.

Seungyoun made kissing sounds to the snake, and it snuggled itself into his sleeves.

“Did that mean, ugly man scare you,” he asked in a cute way to his snake.

“ _ Ugly???” _

Seungyoun left with Pumpkin, followed by the others who had been woken up all of a sudden by Jinhyuk’s screaming. All had walked out in a single file except for Yuvin who stopped to comment on the fact that Jinhyuk needed to work on his shouting problem. Jinhyuk’s cheeks burned. He had made a fool of himself again on only his second day there. It hadn’t even been a full 24 hours. To be fair, someone should have warned him that there was a live snake in the apartment and that there was a whole person living in his closet. What else had Seungwoo left out?

Unable to contain how embarrassed he was, he dressed as fast as he could, grabbed his phone and his wallet, and headed to work without eating or saying anything to anyone. 

All day long he couldn’t concentrate. 

Somehow on his first day back, upper management decided it would be a good time to train two new staff members at the cafe he worked at. They were both too young to be working their first part time jobs, and probably wouldn’t make it through more than a couple of weekends. But it was still part of his job to make sure they did their jobs and didn’t poison anyone and get  _ him  _ in trouble.

Most of his task demonstrations were clumsy and had to be repeated because he would either disassociate while making espresso, spilling it everywhere, or cringe so hard thinking about his morning that he would crush the cafe’s pastries in the palms of his hands instead of wrapping them in decorative tissue paper.

Jinwoo and Dongpyo did their best to follow, but he was going to have to teach them everything again tomorrow if he could get them to somehow unlearn everything he did that day.

“Sorry, guys, I’m a little distracted today,” he apologized. “Maybe today we can just go through the cleaning up part.”

“That’s ok,” Jinwoo said. “They said we had a week to learn everything.”

“Don’t worry so much,” Dongpyo winked and flicked his wrist. “We were born to be cute cafe part timers!”

Jinhyuk relaxed.

“Besides, if anyone complains, we’ll just tell them it’s how you taught us!” Jinwoo added.

“Hey!” Jinhyuk swatted at him. 

Jinwoo and Dongpyo scurried out of the cafe. He opened his mouth to call them back, but the shift was over and he was supposed to go home too. Back to his apartment where he had done multiple cringey things. His stomach churned.

He had to suck it up and get over it. Jinhyuk may have been easily startled, but he was no coward! He would just have to find a way to make things normal again, and he knew just the way to do it. More beer. 

He had made enough in tips juggling tables between training the new part timers to buy a case for the roommates, and that corner store Byungchan introduced him to was close enough to their place that he could just go there immediately after work and then walk back to the apartment with the gifts. Yes, that’s what he would do, he would buy “I’m sorry I screamed at your pet snake and woke all of you up and ran out of the house” beer, and everything would be fine.

The new neighborhood was just a subway and a bus ride away from work, and he was pretty sure he was familiar with the way since that morning. He put in his earbuds and listened to music to calm his nerves, falling asleep on the way.

The bus jerked over a pothole, jostling him awake.  _ Shit, did I miss a stop? _ He looked around not sure where he was. He pulled out his phone and checked the map. He guessed he was a couple stops away from where he got on that morning. He sighed in relief.

The bus left him somewhere on the outskirts of his neighborhood. He knew he was going in the right direction because there were suddenly less people and cars around or any signs of life whatsoever.  _ If I keep going this way, I’ll run into that grocery store with the good meat. _

He walked for about 20 minutes. His legs and back ached, but he was getting close. He passed a few shops he remembered from the night before and knew it was only about another block away. Except it wasn’t.

The store he was sure was the grocery store run by the little old lady was abandoned and the windows were boarded up. He went to the window and cupped his hands around his eyes to look inside. The shelves were bare and old cardboard boxes were tumped over on the floor. It looked like no one had been inside in months. Years even. 

_ This isn’t right. Maybe I got the wrong place? _

He looked around, but he was positive it was the right place. Maybe they had cleaned it out early that morning and boarded it up before he got off of work. _ They must have gone out of business early this morning. That’s it. _

He scratched his head and looked around again. That was it then. He was just going to have to hope he passed a convenience store on the way home to complete his mission. 

He turned around to go back in the direction he was sure he came with Byungchan.

Seungwoo was sitting comfortably on the couch with his legs folded underneath him. A makeshift table separated him from Yuvin who studied his cards carefully. It was a perfect day for poker, and if they were the kind of people who smoked, they would have probably puffed on a couple of cigars while sipping scotch from short, square glasses.

“It’s your move,” Seungwoo said, baiting him. Yuvin was impatient and unpredictable, but he was easy to fluster.

“I don’t know if I want to crush you with a flush or with a straight,” Yuvin said.

“Wouldn’t you just play a straight flush then?” 

Yuvin squinted. “Would that be a good hand?”

“I think so.”

“Hmm,” he thought aloud.

“It’s your move.”

“You said that already.”

“Play your card!” Seungwoo whined, adding to the pressure.

“I’m thinking!” Yuvin shouted, a bead of sweat pooling above his brow.

Seungyoun sat on the floor in front of the couch and watched the game from a safe enough distance that neither player could accuse him of sending signals to the other.

“I think that’s a royal flush,” Seungyoun joined in.

“I think those are face cards only,” Seungwoo said. “Do you have only face cards?”

“Y- wait, I can’t tell you that!”

“How are we supposed to help you if you don’t tell us what your cards are,” Seungwoo protested.

“Yeah, how are we supposed to help?”

“I don’t need help, Yuvin mumbled. “Is a straight flush better than a royal flush?”

“Since you can add the numbers up, you get more points,” Seungyoun suggested.

Seungwoo grinned, his dimple slipping out. 

“I don’t think that sounds right...” Yuvin said, suspicious.

“I bet you don’t even have a flush!” Seungwoo teased.

“I do!” Yuvin slapped his cards down. “Look!”

Yuvin’s cards lined up perfectly with an Ace, King, Queen, Jack and Ten of Spades. A winning hand by any standards. 

“Aha!” Seungwoo shouted and dropped his cards. “I win!”

“What? How?”

“A full house always beats a royal flush!” 

Seungyoun agreed enthusiastically. Yuvin frowned. 

“I don’t think that’s right,” Yuvin said, tilting his head. He was sure that wasn’t how poker worked.

Seungwoo got up off of the couch and stretched. “It’s your turn, Seungyoun.”

The rule was that they had to keep playing until they won a game without a snack or bathroom break, but for some reason Yuvin never got to stop playing and he could never figure out why.

Yuvin groaned. They had been at this for hours endlessly, and he really had to pee. 

Seungwoo was quite entertained. Yuvin squirmed, and Seungyoun cracked his knuckles. 

“My turn to deal,” Seungyoun said. He shuffled the cards over and over again. Then he shuffled them again. And again.

“I can’t take this anymore!” Yuvin shouted and ran to the bathroom, slamming the door behind him.

Seungwoo and Seungyoun laughed until they rolled over. They had succeeded. 

Byungchan came into the living room wringing his hands. He didn’t want to interrupt them or ruin the game, but he thought he needed to speak up about what he had found.

Seungwoo and Seungyoun pulled themselves together by the time Yuvin came back. Byungchan was still standing there waiting for something.

He cleared his throat. “Guys, I think we’ve got a problem…”

“What’s wrong?” Seungwoo asked, still red faced from laughing at Yuvin’s expense.

“You know the jumpy human that’s renting the spare room?”

“Yeah, what about him?”

“He’s supposed to he home by now, right?”

“What, do you miss him?” Seungyoun teased. 

Byungchan cocked his head to the side and looked away. “No, it’s nothing like that…”

“What’s the matter?” Seungwoo said, now concerned.

“You told him to use the map to get here, right?”

“Of course, I mailed it to him last week.”

Byungchan pulled out a crumpled paper from his back pocket. “Well, you see, I was going through his things-.”

“Byungchan…” Seungwoo scolded.

“This isn’t about me,” he said. “Anyways, I was going through his things, and I found the map you gave him in the pocket of his pants.”

“Oh my god,” Seungwoo’s eyes widened.

“Yeah, I don’t think he’s even wearing these right now!”

“Shit, we’ve gotta go,” Seungwoo jumped up and ran to the door. “We have to find him.”

“What’s this ‘we’ business?” Seungyoun stretched out on the couch. “He can take care of himself.”

“At night?”

Seungyoun blinked. He jumped up off the couch. “Got it!”

Jinhyuk was sure this was the way. He saw the rusted parked car in the distance, so if he kept walking, his building would be on the left. 

There weren’t any corner stores on the way so he would just have to apologize the old fashioned way with words and raw sincerity.

As the sun set, his social nerves were replaced with the good old fashioned heebie jeebies. He rubbed his arms. Walking in the middle of his street in his server uniform between pools of streetlight made him feel naked and alone. He was exposed on all sides and was suddenly very aware of the amount of vacant buildings around him. Not a single business was open. Not a single light shined through a window.

_ It’s quiet! That’s a good thing! _

A crow cawed sending a shiver down his spine. Just a few more meters, and he would be back home. He stopped at the rusted parked car and turned to his left, and what he saw made his stomach sink. He was standing before the abandoned grocery store that must have closed down that morning.

Jinhyuk swallowed, his mouth dry and his head heavy. He must have made a bad turn down one of the alleyways. 

He tried again, but this time his pace was faster and more panicked.  _ I did  _ not  _ forget where I live! Everything just looks the same!  _

He walked briskly down several streets and between familiar buildings. He walked in circles, but he couldn’t find his building. He pulled out his phone to call for help, but he didn’t have Seungwoo’s phone number. Their only communication was through an email address and through the mail for the map Seungwoo drew.

_ The map! _

He patted down his pants. 

His shoulders sank. He had left them in his not-work pants. He had work pants and not-work pants. That’s all a person needed when they were effectively kicked out of their home all of a sudden because their best friend/life partner/roommate decided that they needed their “space” and “independence” so they could “grow.” Growth was fine! Why couldn’t they have tried it out while living in the same apartment? In a neighborhood where he knew where the hell he was going!

The sun was gone, and he was on the verge of a meltdown. He knew it was just because he was scared, but he felt like something was watching him from the shadows.  _ What if someone mugs me and takes all my tips? Oh my god, I’m going to get mugged. This can’t be happening! _

Jinhyuk ran. If anyone was behind him, they would have to catch him before he gave them his life! Or his tips!

He made it back to the parked car across from his building, out of breath. He bent over and held his knees.  _ Hooh, I need to hit up a gym.  _

He stood up to go inside, but he was in front of the grocery store again.  _ No, no, no. _

He turned around and ran in the opposite direction. He must have gotten confused because of coming to it from a different way after work. He laughed at himself for being so forgetful.

As time passed, he circled his neighborhood again, and the more he walked, the more lost he felt. 

In the distance he heard shouting. He picked up his feet and ran again neither towards or away from the voices. He just had to move.

The shouting was dispersed in all directions like he was surrounded. His eyes burned. This wasn’t right. 

_ Please, let me go home... _

The shouting grew louder as they came closer. He was boxed in. Something about their voices was chilling and too close.

“Jinhyuk!” He jumped. Byungchan and Seungwoo ran towards him. “What are you doing?”

“Hey!” He was so happy he could have cried. He didn’t care if they made fun of him for forgetting where his apartment was. They could roast him for the next three months. It was fine.

Seungwoo ran towards him and grabbed him by his shirt. His eyes were wild and inhuman. “What are you doing out here?”

“I, I was just walking around,” he lied, taken aback by the aggression. 

Seungwoo let go of him. “Just walking around? Just walking around? Byungchan found your map in your room.”

“I didn’t think I needed it,” Jinhyuk said, embarrassed.

“You can’t come home without it,” Seungwoo said, almost shouting. “I told you to take it with you.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t think it was a big deal.”

“Not a big deal,” Seungwoo nodded. He straightened himself and smiled back in nonchalant landlord mode. “This neighborhood can be confusing at first. From now on, make sure you have it with you.”

Seungwoo was calm and composed, but Jinhyuk’s heart raced. The change was unmistakable, but maybe it was just his own adrenaline making him see things that weren’t there.

“Alright,” Byungchan said, coming between them. “Let’s all go back home.”

“It’s getting late,” Byungchan continued pointedly at Seungwoo.

“Yes,” Seungwoo said, his voice relaxed like running water. “Why don’t you two head back, and I’ll get Yuvin and Seungyoun.”

_ They were looking for me too?  _ Byungchan hooked his arm around Jinhyuk’s and pulled him away. Jinhyuk looked back to Seungwoo to say something, but Seungwoo had his back turned to them. He was looking up to the sky, with his hand on the back of his head. Jinhyuk had been a burden to him, and it was obvious. His stomach sank. Byungchan was silent for the walk back, but he supposed that was how it had to be.


	3. Apartment 211 On the Left

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jinhyuk starts to suspect that something might not be right at his new apartment.

Surprisingly, no one was really that upset except for Seungwoo who wasn’t particularly angry, but his mood wasn’t entirely hospitable either. Yuvin refused to play another game of poker for as long as lived, but Byungchan, with his momentarily unstimulated attention span and no belongings to riffle through, was happy to play with Seungyoun (who was now very good at playing full houses and winning every single game) for the rest of the night.

Jinhyuk thought he should stay in his room for the rest of the evening, but Yuvin was in his closet doing some construction that sounded an awful lot like he was making adjustments with a sledge hammer. Rather than hide and get a terrible headache, Jinhyuk braved the most dangerous place in the house — the kitchen.

He didn’t even bother with looking in the fridge even though knew he had plenty of leftovers from their dinner the night before since no one else had touched anything resembling a plant. Once they all became close friends, he was going to have to say something about their vitamin consumption. He was really quite concerned.

Seungwoo saw him and went to his room without saying anything. Jinhyuk’s stomach sank, but he still needed to eat something. 

“Do you guys want any ramen?” He asked Seungyoun and Byungchan who were in the middle of a very intense game.

“No, thanks,” they said at the same time.

Jinhyuk shrugged and boiled a pot of water on the stove for one.

“Wait,” Byungchan called out. “Could you bring me some chocolate milk?”

“Me too!” Seungyoun chimed in.

Jinhyuk smiled to himself. Two out of four wasn’t bad at all. He went to the cupboard and pulled out two glasses.  _ Better make it four.  _

Jinhyuk poured four glasses of chocolate milk for his roommates. It’s the least he could do after they searched the streets for him all evening. The first two went to Byungchan and Seungyoun who thanked him before returning to their game. The third went to Yuvin who accepted it with an arm stretched out from the cracked closet door. His renovations weren’t finished and therefore couldn’t be seen yet. The fourth… wasn’t so easy.

He stood outside Sungwoo’s room for so long that he could feel the glass warm in his hand. If he turned back, he would have seen the water bubbling over in the kitchen. He raised his arm to knock, but he froze. He couldn’t bring himself to it.

A cold hand touched his shoulder. 

“I’ll take it to him,” Seungyoun said. “He’ll be fine. He was just worried is all.”

Before Jinhyuk could say anything, Seungyoun was in and out minus one glass of chocolate milk. Jinhyuk’s shoulders fell. It was probably for the best this way. 

He went back to the kitchen, realized what he had done, turned off the cooktop, cleaned up the spilled water, and started over. At least he could kind of eat with a clear conscience.

Jinhyuk sat by himself to eat, but once he was done, he joined the roommates’ card game. He didn’t know shit about poker, but he was pretty sure that they had no idea what they were doing either. 

Seungyoun slapped a king down on the table. Byungchan groaned and drew four cards. He now held an unstable fan of cards in front of his face. He grinned slyly and dropped a two of hearts and a six of diamonds.

Seungyoun gasped. He threw all of his cards down and rolled over.

Byungchan leapt up off the couch. “I have bested you! Do my laundry!”

Seungyoun covered his face in agony and fake sobbed. Jinhyuk couldn’t help but laugh.

“I don’t know what you’re laughing at,” Seungyoun said into his hands. “I’m not the one who doesn’t know how to open a door!”

Jinhyuk gaped. Byungchan cackled. 

“It was  _ locked!” _

Seungwoo came out of his room, and the two stopped laughing. Byungchan bit his lip and looked down. Seungyoun shuffled the cards seriously.  _ Well, at least it’s not just me.  _

They sat quietly as he washed his glass out in the sink and sat it on a towel to dry. He went back to his room, and Jinhyuk took a breath. Seungyoun and Byungchan went back to their usual business of playing their game. They offered Jinhyuk a chance to play, but he insisted that he waited until he fully understood the rules. 

Jinhyuk tossed and turned in his bed throughout the night. The clock on his nightstand said it was 2 a.m., and he wondered if he would ever get to sleep which was essential if he was going to make up for a whole day’s worth of wasted training. He knew most people didn’t care about work enough to worry if their training was up to par, but he owed it to Jinwoo and Dongpyo to not screw them over from the start. 

He couldn’t stop thinking about that afternoon and evening. First of all, it was weird as hell that he couldn’t find his own apartment, and on top of that Seungwoo was pissed at him but  _ he _ was the one who refused to give Jinhyuk his own address. What kind of a landlord won’t tell a tenant where said tenant lives? And although at the time he didn’t dwell on it, Jinhyuk remembered Byungchan’s passing statement that no one else lived in the building. If that was the case, what kind of a landlord  _ lives  _ with all of his tenants in the same apartment? Wouldn’t he make more money if each of them rented their own apartments?

Jinhyuk was angry and wanted to give Seungwoo a piece of his mind. How dare he be mad and sulky over having to find Jinhyuk when all of it was his fault in the first place. This was a joke, and he wouldn’t stand it anymore.

Jinhyuk hopped out of bed as the clock hit 2:15. His feet ached against the cold floor because apparently even house slippers weren’t allowed in Seungwoo’s imperial palace of clean. He huffed and marched out, careful not to slam his door out of consideration for Yuvin.

Across the hall at Seungwoo’s door, he gathered his conviction. He was going to tell him everything he thought and demand he get his address or he’ll void the contract.  _ I’ll get a lawyer and sue you for incompetence! I’ll call a building inspector and report you for letting people live in such a hazardous environment! I’ll find someone else  _ really messy _ to take my place in here!  _

He held his breath and knocked. A few moments later Seungwoo opened the door and leaned onto the frame with the other hand. He was wearing a silk bathrobe that barely covered anything, revealing the tattoos on his chest and shoulder. His hair hung down over his sleepy face. He looked like a romance novel coconut. He yawned. Jinhyuk forgot what he was doing there.

“Did you need something?”

“I just came to,” he coughed, gathering his thoughts. “I just came to apologize. For earlier… for you having to come get me…”

“Hey, Jinhyuk,” Byungchan appeared from behind Seungwoo in a large shirt and boxers, and slipped out of the bedroom under his arm. “I’m going to go to the bathroom while you two talk.”

Jinhyuk’s face turned red. “Sorry, I didn’t know you guys were…”

“We’re not,” Seungwoo said plainly, almost bored. 

“Anyways, I’m sorry that I caused problems,” Jinhyuk said, wanting to get out of an increasingly awkward situation.

“You didn’t know,” Seungwoo said. He sighed. “Just keep your map with you from now on.”

Jinhyuk nodded. Before he could insist on getting the address, Byungchan returned. He squeezed in between them back into Seungwoo’s bedroom. 

“Well, if that’s all you needed,” Seungwoo said with another yawn. “Have a good night.”

He closed the door leaving Jinhyuk feeling flustered. He went back to bed to force himself back asleep before his mind could race anymore.

The next day went surprisingly well. Jinhyuk was able to focus on his tasks without at all thinking about a barely dressed Seungwoo. 

Jinwoo and Dongpyo picked up their jobs pretty quickly. Jinwoo was a little too soft spoken to speak to customers yet, but Jinhyuk could teach him. If there was one thing Jinhyuk was good at, it was not being soft spoken. Dongpyo on the other hand was great with customers, but he couldn’t operate an espresso machine to save his life. 

Jinhyuk sat down with the trainees for their break. They each ate half of a sandwich and a cup of soup along with juice from the cafe. It was the first time he noticed the sheet of paper in his back pocket that he definitely wouldn’t leave the house without again. That stupid map caused more problems than provided solutions, and it was sticking him in the ass.

He pulled it out to fold up and stick in his wallet. 

“What’s that?” Jinwoo said. 

“It’s just something I need for later.”

Dongpyo snatched it out of his hands. “It looks like an ugly drawing to me.”

“Give me that,” Jinhyuk snatched it back. He folded it up and tucked it safely away. “It’s not ugly…”

“It looks like a five year old drew it,” Dongpyo said. Jinwoo snorted.

“Hey,” Jinhyuk said to them both. “Shut up.”

They continued to tease him. He pushed his chair back, and stood up. “Break’s over. Dongpyo go do the dishes. Jinwoo sweep up the floor before more customers come in.”

They groaned. He may have been the new kid at home, but at the cafe he was king and they better not forget it. He crossed his arms, satisfied.

The rest of the shift went well, and with his map, the commute home was a breeze. He found his building on the first try, and he opened the door all by himself. He went up the stairs which by the way did not at all collapse beneath him. He reached the second floor and stopped before going inside. 

Having a day that went completely like it was supposed to made him realize something. Something about this neighborhood wasn’t right. Why did he need a map to find a building? Why was a grocery store suddenly vacant? Why did he walk for hours just to return to the same place over and over again? Why did his roommate live in his closet?

Jinhyuk felt like he had woken up for the first time in days, but there was one more question he had to get the answer to without Seungwoo talking his way out of. What was the deal with apartment 211?

Odd numbered apartments were definitely supposed to be on the left, and they definitely weren’t supposed to share a number with the apartment directly across the hall…

Jinhyuk shoved his map back into his pocket and turned around to face apartment 211 on the left. 

_ Since no one lives here, I probably won’t get in trouble for trespassing anyways, right? _

He grabbed the handle, taking the chance that the door was probably locked. He turned the knob, and although it stuck, he was able to pull the door open. A cold draft spilled from the room, and it smelled like mold and rot. He coughed and fanned his face.  _ This is a bad idea. _

He stepped inside, covering his nose with his sleeve. The door shut behind him, leaving him in the dark. He pulled out his phone to use as a flashlight with his free hand.  _ Well, nobody lives here.  _

He stepped forward and shined the light around. It was probably a coincidence, but this apartment was a perfect mirror of his own down to the placement of the furniture. That was normal, right? A lot of apartments in the same building looked the same. 

He flashed his light into the kitchen. He opened the fridge and gagged. It was filled with flies and maggots covering food that was left behind to rot. He closed it and tried not to throw up.  _ So that’s where the smell is coming from.  _ The scent of the rotten meat lingered in the kitchen like a dead body. He was going to have to burn his work clothes and shave his head to get rid of the stench that now clung to him. 

The living room was also identical down to the deck of cards on the coffee table. Another coincidence, no doubt. There was an old television set against the wall with metal rabbit ears positioned on the top. The couch was covered in a thick layer of dust, hair, and more maggots. He made a note to not touch anything else in the apartment.

The layout of the hall was the same with the same number of doors on either side. Curiosity got the best of him, and he decided he had to see what the mirror of his room looked like. Did the previous tenant also have little green furniture? Did they share a closet with another person? 

He opened the door, and the bedroom was vacant except for a table in the center of the room that had something propped on top of it. He went to the table and picked up a picture frame. He shined his phone at it to see what it was, but the dust on the glass reflected the light back at him. He wiped the picture on his pants, and flipped it back over.

The frame held a worn, faded picture of Byungchan, Seungyoun, Seungwoo, Yuvin, and himself smiling into the camera with their arms around each other. He gasped and dropped the frame, glass shattering on the floor. If this was the roommates’ idea of a joke, they were mean human beings who didn’t deserve the opportunity to see him freaked out, but he still ran out, just in case. 

He made his way to the front door to get out of apartment 211 on the left. He grabbed the handle, but it was stuck. He jiggled it. It wasn’t just stuck, it was locked. He jiggled it more frantically.

“Guys, this isn’t funny!” He shouted. “Let me out!”

Jinhyuk heard a crash in the back of the apartment followed by a sound that was an awful lot like skittering.

He turned back to see black creatures the size of shoes spilling out from the bedroom, coming right towards him.

He banged on the door. “Please, let me out!”

His heart raced. He ran for the living room, dropping his phone, and jumped onto the couch. The creatures stopped at the door and swarmed his phone. 

Although they didn’t have eyes, the way they moved made it seem that they were looking for him. The sound of glass crackling sent a chill down his spine, and before the light on his phone died out, he noticed something that made him have to hold back a scream. The sightless creatures had teeth. 

They scattered across the floor, dispersing into the kitchen and back into the bedrooms searching for him. It was dark, but even without the light, he could see their dark skittering forms moving across the floor.

It was quiet. 

The door out was locked, and he was trapped inside with things that looked like giant mutant cockroaches. He couldn’t shout for help, and he was all but certain that this wasn’t a joke at all. He took a breath and leapt off the couch. He jammed his shoulder into the door, and it flung open. 

The creatures shrieked and hissed and came after him. He slammed the door and pressed his back against it to hold them in, his eyes shut tight. He gasped for air. He could feel them charging and scratching the door against his back. 

The skittering stopped, and he opened his eyes. He was moving out. That was the last straw. He was going to march across the hall to… a door that wasn’t there anymore. 

The wall before him where apartment 211 on the right should have been was flat. It wasn’t just bare, it was wallpapered over. Jinhyuk’s heart jumped into his throat. 

_ I’m fucking getting out of here.  _

He ran down the single flight of stairs down to the first floor, but the more he ran, the more flights of stairs there were to run down. He ran until he was out of breath, but he never reached the bottom. He walked back up a single flight to the second floor, careful not to make a sound. 

There was a large window that overlooked the street that he considered breaking and leaping out of, but when he looked down to see how far the drop was, he screamed so hard his voice went hoarse. 

The street was filled with creatures like the ones inside the apartment, but much larger. And among them were people who looked like shadows plucked off of the walls. It was dark, but then it wasn’t. There was no sun, but he could see everything like in a nightmare. 

One of the shadow people looked up at him. He made eye contact with it, and horrors filled his mind. 

It reached up and pointed to him. The other creatures stopped and looked up at him too. Their tongues lashed, teeth gnashed, and he heard them hiss and shriek. He was frozen, and wanted to run but his feet were planted on the floor. 

The shadow looked into his soul, and it held him in place. 

The creatures staggered towards the building. He realized what they were doing and paled.  _ They’re hungry. _

Cold hands reached around him. Before he could scream, the hands covered his mouth and eyes. 

“Don’t look,” the voice whispered into his ears.

Whatever held him jerked him backwards. He fell backwards, the other body breaking his fall. He cried and wiggled but couldn’t loosen the grip. 

His gaze on the shadow creature broke, he began to shake and sob. The person underneath him squeezed their legs around him so he couldn’t get away.

“Shh,” he whispered. “You’re safe. It’s okay.”

Jinhyuk shook and hyperventilated. He fought to move, but he was too strong for him. His energy went out and he relaxed. He was going to die there.

“I’m going to let go of you,” he whispered. “Don’t scream. You’re safe.”

Jinhyuk nodded against his hands. The hands uncovered his mouth and eyes, but his legs remained around his torso. The hall was bright again, and he wept in relief.

Once he was truly calm, the legs unwrapped from him, and he sat up, embarrassed.

“Thank you,” he said between sobs, before turning around. 

Seungwoo was plastered on the floor out of breath, covered in sweat. “No problem.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Congratulations to Seungwoo for becoming X1’s leader! 
> 
> Honestly, I took Jinhyuk’s elimination really hard, so I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to do this, but I didn’t want to leave anyone hanging. 
> 
> Please let me know what you think!
> 
> Edit: due to everyone seeing me sneak in Jinhyuk/Seungwoo, I’ve decided to officially add them as a subplot. Thank you for indulging me lol


	4. The Medicine Humans Need

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jinhyuk learns that something *is* very wrong with his apartment, and Seungwoo has some explaining to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took me the longest to write, but it was the most fun. I hope you enjoy!

Seungwoo’s whole body ached. His head hit the floor pretty hard when he pulled Jinhyuk down with him, but other than that and a little stiffness, he would be fine. Jinhyuk, on the other hand, was a mess, curled up in a ball in the corner under the window so he couldn’t be seen from the outside.

Seungwoo didn’t blame him for being scared. The things he saw would have made most people piss themselves. Now he only had a few minutes until Jinhyuk collected himself to figure out how he was going to explain this away. It wasn’t that he wanted to gaslight him exactly, but there were things about their little world that he wasn’t ready to hear yet. Like the creepy soul eating shadow demons, for instance. 

The more oblivious he was, the better it would be for all of them. Still, Seungwoo had a mess to clean up.

“What was that?” Jinhyuk whispered, his voice quivering. His eyes were bloodshot, and the color had completely drained from his face.

Seungwoo’s mind raced.  _ Stray cats? A rodent infestation? A gas leak? Stress induced visual and auditory hallucinations? _

“Say something.”

Seungwoo cracked his neck and groaned. “You must have been sleep walking…”

“Cut the bullshit,” Jinhyuk said. “Please...”

He rubbed his temples. “I don’t think I can.”

Jinhyuk sat up. “You owe it to me. You let me walk into this.”

In a way he did. Jinhyuk didn’t realize it yet, but he almost died only moments before. If Seungwoo hadn’t gotten to him in time, there wouldn’t have even been a body left to dispose of. How was he supposed to tell him that?

“I’m sorry,” Seungwoo said quietly. 

Jinhyuk’s lower lip quivered. He was wild eyed like a wounded, frightened animal. 

“Those things… that apartment… don’t tell me it’s nothing.”

Jinhyuk crawled across the floor, careful of the window. He grabbed Seungwoo’s shirt, part out of anger and part out of desperation. Seungwoo looked into both of his eyes, and his heart ached. He forgot what it was like to be human — to feel fear, pity, even remorse — and Jinhyuk was unmistakingly human.

“I can’t,” he whispered.

Jinhyuk hung his head on Seungwoo’s shoulder and sobbed.  _ “I’m not crazy.” _

Seungwoo wasn’t sure if he was supposed to hug him or push him off. 

“No,” he said, tired. “You’re not.”

The apartment door opened, and Seungyoun stuck his head out. “Is everything okay?”

Some days Seungwoo thought that he should be in charge for once instead.  _ Just because I’m the oldest, doesn’t mean I should have all of the responsibilities. _

Seungwoo sighed. “Jinhyuk went into apartment 211.”

Seungyoun sucked his teeth. “Ooooh, yeah, sorry, dude.”

Jinhyuk pulled himself up. His features were bright red and swollen.  _ “Sorry, dude???  _ Will someone tell me what’s going on?”

“You can tell him,” Seungyoun gestured.

_ “I don’t want to,”  _ Seungwoo sang melodically through his gritted teeth.

Seungyoun helped him get Jinhyuk to his feet.

“Let’s get him inside first,” he said. Seungwoo nodded in agreement.

Getting Jinhyuk through the door was no easy task. As soon as he saw the inside of their apartment, the fear all came back to him, and he wanted to get as far away as possible. (It was a terrible time for the lights to be off, but the four of them were watching a movie together before Jinhyuk came home from work. Honestly, Seungwoo had barely heard the screams over the car chase.)

Jinhyuk planted his hands and feet against the frame of the door and would not go further. For someone so tall and gangly, he was impossibly strong. Tears streamed down his face as he remembered the things in the mirrored apartment. The very real things on the other side. 

Byungchan and Yuvin ran to help.

“What’s wrong?” Yuvin asked, frightened himself at Jinhyuk’s erratic behavior.

“Get the lights,” Seungyoun shouted, his hands on Jinhyuk’s back pushing him in.

The lights turned on, but Jinhyuk’s eyes were squeezed shut. To him nothing had changed.

Out of breath, Seungwoo instructed Yuvin and Byungchan to grab his arms. When they had a grip, he jumped and wrapped himself around Jinhyuk who toppled over in surprise with an “ _ oof _ ”.

“Shut the door!”

The door slammed shut, almost leaving Seungyoun behind.

The other three saw what Seungwoo was doing and threw themselves onto the pile. Jinhyuk struggled beneath them until the last of his adrenaline fizzled out into a few lifeless huffs and puffs. 

“You good?” Seungwoo said, pretending like he wasn’t also being crushed to death by his roommates.

Jinhyuk released a muffled grunt.

“I think he said for us to jump on him,” Byungchan suggested.

Seungwoo loosened his arm from beneath Yuvin and gave Byungchan a light smack on the back of the head.

“Hey! What was that for!” Byungchan cried out.

Jinhyuk groaned again and wiggled.  _ “Mrr mrrr mrrrr.” _

“What?” The four said.

_ “MRRRRR MRRRRRR MRRRRRRR!” _

“Speak up, we can’t hear you,” Seungyoun said from the middle of the pile.

Jinhyuk banged his fist on the floor.

_ “MRRRR MRRRrrrr mrrrrrr,”  _ he said, exasperated.

“Aww, we love you too,” Byungchan said.

Jinhyuk whimpered pathetically, defeated. 

“I think he said to ‘let him up’,” Yuvin mused.

Jinhyuk groaned. One by one Seungyoun, Yuvin, and Byungchan removed themselves leaving a Seungwoo to hold down Jinhyuk by himself. 

“Are you going to get off of me,” Jinhyuk asked sounding irritated.

“Are you going to run?”

“No…” 

“Then, yes,” Seungwoo stood up and dusted himself off. “Well. That was exhausting.”

Jinhyuk curled up into a ball on the floor. His expression was tired and blank. Seungwoo felt bad, but at least he was inside. He was safe.

“Help me get him to the couch,” Seungwoo said. He, Seungyoun, and Yuvin lifted Jinhyuk up off the floor with less resistance than before while Byungchan ran off to the kitchen. They plopped Jinhyuk down on the middle cushion, and once he was steady, Seungyoun made a cocoon around him with a blanket he had used while watching the movie. 

“They do this to crazy people so that they can’t scratch the doctors,” Seungyoun whispered to Seungwoo and Yuvin a little too loudly.

Jinhyuk started to sob again. Seungwoo glared at Seungyoun.

“What did I say?” 

Seungwoo sighed. He grabbed Jinhyuk’s shoulders and shook him gently. “You’re not crazy, okay?”

Byungchan returned with a glass of chocolate milk and a plate of lettuce. “I brought you some of those leaves you like so much.”

He sat the plate next to Jinhyuk whose arms where snuggly tucked to his side. Jinhyuk looked down at the lettuce and then up to Seungwoo.

“I’m moving out,” Jinhyuk said, his voice hoarse and his brows pinched together angrily.

“You can’t!” Byungchan, Seungyoun, and Yuvin shouted.

“What do you mean I can’t,” he demanded.

Seungwoo straightened up. He pulled together his best landlord/building owner persona. “You signed a contract.”

“Give it to me then,” he said with force. “I’ll rip it up, and you can find someone else to live in this goddamned house of horrors.”

“Ahh, so he saw the–,” Byungchan said. Seungyoun jabbed him in the ribs with his elbow. “Ow! What was that for?”

“I can’t let you do that,” Seungwoo said, ignoring them.

“Then how long do I have to stay here,” Jinhyuk glared at him.

“I can’t tell you,” Seungwoo said. This mess was growing much faster than he would be able to fix. He was beginning to feel exhausted.

“What do you mean  _ you can’t tell me?!  _ What is it, a year? Six months? _ ” _

“It’s not his fault if you didn’t read the contract before signing it,” Seungyoun stepped in to defend Seungwoo. 

“He!” Jinhyuk shouted before giving up. He started to shake. “What’s happening to me?”

“Alright, alright,” Seungwoo waved his arms. “I’ll handle this. Can you guys give us some privacy?”

The three grumbled but still went to their rooms. Seungwoo untucked Jinhyuk’s arms. “I guess I owe you an explanation.”

Bringing a human in seemed like a good idea at the time. All they worried about were their jobs and relationships and things they thought mattered. They rarely got curious these days, and Seungwoo knew he had been careful. He even drew it plainly on a map that the human was  _ not _ to open the door on the left. He even put out a welcome mat.  _ Do you know who doesn’t need a welcome mat? Ghouls, that’s who. _

It wasn’t just his idea, either. They had agreed unanimously to get a roommate who could work a normal job because they needed the money. Jinhyuk was the one who needed a place to stay on such short notice, and they had been most accommodating.

Something bothered him, though, but it wasn’t the right time to address it so he pushed it to the back of his mind for later.

Jinhyuk nibbled on a piece of lettuce. The color was slowly returning to his face thanks to Byungchan’s chocolate milk and the presumed feeling that all of this had just been a bad dream. 

Seungwoo sat on the couch next to him. He tucked his legs beneath him and faced Jinhyuk. Seungyoun came back out of his room to help. Seungwoo was grateful that he wouldn’t have to do this by himself. 

“What was that,” Jinhyuk whispered.

“I need you to understand that to answer your questions, I may have to lie,” Seungwoo admitted.

“Why?”

“I don’t think you can handle it.”

Jinhyuk nodded. “Probably not, but tell me the truth anyway.”

Seungwoo took a breath. There was only so much a person could be expected to understand, let alone believe at one time. There was also a lot Seungwoo didn’t know himself. He wasn’t a gatekeeper of death and the secrets of the afterlife. He was just one guy who was able to exist comfortably in both worlds, and he just happened to like this one a whole lot more than the other.

“That was… the Other Side, I guess,” Seungwoo figured he would get the big umbrella question out of the way first.

Jinhyuk looked puzzled. 

“Like the place between life and death,” he clarified.

Jinhyuk sniffled. “Am I dead?”

“Do you feel dead?” Seungyoun asked. Seungwoo glared at him.  _ “Sorry.” _

“I don’t know,” Jinhyuk began to cry again.

“You’re not dead,” Seungwoo said. “None of us are. Right, Seungyoun?”

“Right! We are most certainly not dead!”

The enthusiasm was appreciated, if a little much. He shook his head.

“What were those things,” Jinhyuk asked, his voice was calm but tired as his tears dried up.

“Well, that’s difficult to explain,” Seungwoo said. “I’m not sure what you saw, but most of the things on the other side are fragments. Sometimes when someone dies, a piece of them is left behind because it can’t go with them to the afterlife or when they reincarnate. Like rage, for instance. Or it could be an unforgivable sin, but that’s more complicated. Sometimes the scattered fragments clump together to make little carnivorous beasts like the ones in apartment 211. Well, they’re everywhere on the Other Side, but the ones you saw were in there. Ghastly little shits.”

Seungyoun cleared his throat.

“Sorry,” Seungwoo said, realizing he had gotten carried away. “The shadow people… they’re soul fragments. They’re the broken remaining collection of fragments of one soul that is holding itself together. Sometimes when people die, they don’t want to cross over, and they wander around the Other Side so long that their humanity chips away leaving all the bad stuff behind. Don’t make eye contact with them. Don’t let them touch you.”

“Why not,” Jinhyuk asked. 

Seungwoo and Seungyoun looked at each other. 

“I think this is enough for now,” Seungwoo said. “Here, drink your milk.”

Jinhyuk waved it away. “Tell me, I can take it.”

“You don’t have the best track record for that,” Seungyoun said. 

He was right. Until thirty minutes ago, the scariest thing Jinhyuk had ever seen was Seungyoun’s pet snake Pumpkin who was still recovering after being shrieked at all of a sudden by a strange naked man covered in soap bubbles. For Jinhyuk’s sake, it would be best if he didn’t tell him anything else until he was either ready or figured it out himself.

Jinhyuk looked up at Seungwoo expecting an answer, but his face dropped. “I think I just want to go to sleep.”

He set Seungyoun’s blanket to the side, thanked them, and went into his room. He shut the door behind him not to reappear for another day.

_ Jinhyuk’s dreams were filled with shadow people and little monsters scuttering from beneath the furniture. He was in his apartment, but not his apartment, somewhere else on the Other Side. The stench of rotting meat mixed with the smell of blood and freshly torn flesh filled the air making it impossible to breathe.  _

_ He opened the door, and a dull gray light spilled in from a world that was slightly less than how he left it. The abandoned streets he had come to know were filled with soldiers and children. A child looked at him and smiled.  _

_ He followed them down the road through swarms of flies and hornets, stepping over slithering snakes and birds that had fallen from the sky.  _

_ At the top of the hill he saw God, and God looked back. _

Jinhyuk woke shivering on top of his sheets, his heart beating out of his chest. He pulled the blanket over himself and fought back tears that if reached the surface would surely suck him back into a spiral of terror and despair. He closed his eyes and forced himself to make it until morning. Then he would figure out how he was going to get out of there.

The next morning his alarm went off. The first thing he did was call into work with food poisoning. He left a message on the machine and sent a text to the cafe group chat. They could fire him for all he cared. He already looked death in the face. What more could a cafe owner do to him?

He forced himself to take a shower and return to bed where it was warm and safe. As he slept through the morning, he didn’t even notice Yuvin coming in and out of his closet or Byungchan peeking in to check on him. 

By noon, his stomach demanded that he eat something or else it would vacate itself from his body. He stumbled out of bed and headed towards the kitchen where Byungchan and Yuvin were cooking for an army in matching aprons. 

“Oh good, you’re up,” Byungchan said. He wiped flour off of his hands onto the apron. “Seungwoo and Seungyoun filled us in on everything this morning so we decided to do something nice and cook all of your food.”

Jinhyuk rubbed his eyes, not used to the light. “You cooked all of my food?” 

Yuvin jumped in to clarify. “We were worried that it would go bad before you could eat it since you’re so busy so we decided to do the… what do they call it?”

“Meat pork?” Byungchan suggested.

Yuvin shook his head. “Meal prep. That’s it. They do the meal prep.”

“Right! Meal prep!” Byungchan said. “Take a look! We got all the recipes from granny.”

Jinhyuk opened the fridge and found stacks of containers with different dishes all with his name labeled on the front. 

“We put a lot in the freezer too,” Yuvin said. 

“Wow, guys, this is amazing,” he said in awe. “You didn’t have to do this.”

He felt a pang of sadness seeing his name on food that was separate from theirs as if he was still the “other” in the house, but he appreciated their efforts. If he stayed, he would work hard to get closer to them.

“You’ve been cooking like this all day?”

“Yep!” Byungchan said. “If you want to help, we’re learning how to bake.”

“Why don’t you eat something first,” Yuvin said. Jinhyuk’s stomach rumbled in agreement.

He looked back at the containers of food with endless possibilities hidden inside. As expected from someone with post-trauma minimal brain function, he dumped the contents into a big bowl and mixed it all together. He sat at the counter and watched Byungchan and Yuvin work. 

Byungchan studied a handwritten recipe and added the ingredients into the bowl of an electric standing mixer. 

“What are you making,” Jinhyuk asked.

He turned on the mixer and shouted over the whirring, “A cake!”

“What kind of cake!” Jinhyuk shouted back.

“Strawberry!”

“Why are we shouting?” Yuvin shouted.

“I’m baking a cake!”

“What!” Yuvin shouted. “I can’t hear you!”

“He’s baking a cake!” Jinhyuk shouted, closer to where Yuvin was standing.

“What kind of cake!”

“Strawberry!” Jinhyuk shouted as Byungchan cut off the mixer.

“You didn’t have to shout,” Yuvin said. “Anyone could see it’s a strawberry cake.”

“Then why did you…” Jinhyuk shoved a spoonful of food in his mouth instead of finishing his question. He should know better by now. 

Byungchan poured the pink tinted batter into a buttered and floured baking dish. He poked in slices of strawberries into the top with his finger, looking quite pleased with himself. Jinhyuk’s mouth watered. He couldn’t remember the last time he had had fresh strawberries in a homemade cake. In fact, he wasn’t sure he had ever had a homemade cake before.  _ If I move out now, I won’t get to try the cake. I guess I could stay a little longer… _

With a full belly and the warm scent of a baking cake filling the kitchen, Jinhyuk’s shattered nerves settled back into place. Maybe he could get used to living there as long as the door to apartment 211 on the left was never  _ ever _ opened again. Ever. 

When he went to clean up his used dish, he noticed a mountain forming in the sink and decided to roll up his sleeves and help out. He pulled a pair of yellow rubber gloves onto his arms and squirted a blue dish detergent onto a scrubbing brush. If Byungchan and Yuvin were kind enough to do all of this to make him feel better, he could at least take care of the annoying part that no one liked to do. 

Seungwoo and Seungyoun were in Seungyoun’s room working. On what, neither Byungchan nor Yuvin knew, but they both assured him that it was nothing to worry about. As Jinhyuk scrubbed, he grew more curious. He only remembered pieces of Seungwoo’s explanation, but he knew he had been careful with his words. Seungyoun was there too, his usual mischievous smile replaced with a stoney expression. If he hadn’t looked so serious (and if Seungwoo hadn’t looked so stressed), he would have thought that they were pulling a terrible prank on him. Ghosts didn’t exist. Shadow people didn’t exist. Giant man eating cockroaches didn’t exist. But what could he believe if not what he saw with his own eyes…

Jinhyuk felt himself get sick. He dropped the bowl into the soapy water and ran to the bathroom, spilling the contents of his stomach into the toilet. He steadied himself and hung over it until he caught his breath. 

When he came back, Byungchan and Yuvin were staring at him.

“Maybe that’s enough for the day,” Yuvin said. 

“I can’t believe your cooking did this,” Byungchan said.

“My cooking? You’re the one who did most of the work!”

“And don’t you forget it!” Byungchan poked him in the chest.

“The food was delicious,” Jinhyuk said, tired. “No one made me sick.”

“Why don’t we do something else,” Byungchan suggested.

“Maybe I should just go lay back down,” Jinhyuk said, nauseated and embarrassed.

“No, no,” Byungchan said, hooking his arm around Jinhyuk’s elbow. “Why don’t you go brush your teeth and come back, and we’ll play some games.”

Jinhyuk bit his lip. “Games?”

Seungwoo and Seungyoun spent the morning talking about what had happened and their future plans with their apartment building and their roommates. When they emerged, the kitchen was a disaster, and those same roommates had completely taken over the living room.

Seungwoo looked at them in disbelief. Yuvin, Byungchan, and Jinhyuk were sitting in front of the tv, their mouths agape like zomb– like unfed, slobbering, mindless ghouls. They each had a controller in their clenched, sweaty hands, and he could have cut the tension with a knife.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Seungwoo said. 

Seungyoun plopped down next to them, also a fan of Mario Kart. 

“So I take it you’re fine then,” Seungwoo said to Jinhyuk who was completely ignoring him.

“Yeah,” he said in a daze. He jumped up. “Who threw that mushroom! I was in first!”

Byungchan giggled wildly. “Not anymore!”

Seungwoo sat down next to them, defeated and a little hurt that he had spent all day worrying about Jinhyuk for absolutely no reason at all. 

He folded his arms across his chest and huffed. Seungyoun nudged him gently to get his attention. He looked over at Jinhyuk whose thinned face was gaining its color back and the circles under his eyes had faded. Maybe this was the medicine humans needed. Even if it was a dumb medicine. He grabbed the controller from Yuvin after the round ended and smiled to himself.  _ Dumb medicine for humans and for me. _

The next day at work Jinhyuk was exhausted. Instead of sleeping and facing those horrible nightmares again, he had stayed up all night with his roommates playing games and eating. 

He expected Byungchan and Yuvin to be the wild ones, but once Seungwoo and Seungyoun joined, primal chaos ensued. Jinhyuk learned fast that his mysterious scientist roommate was probably the craziest of them all and his landlord roommate was lethally competitive. 

It was a slow day, luckily. A few regulars came in for lunch, but other than that, Jinhyuk, Jinwoo, and Dongpyo had the place to themselves.

“Sorry I left you guys hanging yesterday,” he said to the trainees. “How did it go?”

“It went great,” Jinwoo said. “We did everything you taught us!”

“Yeah,” Dongpyo added. “We were pros. You can even quit if you want to. I’ll help you write your resignation letter!”

Jinhyuk furrowed his brow.

“I don’t want him to quit,” Jinwoo protested. “Say you won’t quit.”

“I’m not quitting,” Jinhyuk said, ruffling his hair. He shot a look to Dongpyo. “If I go down, you’re going down with me.”

Dongpyo gasped. “You wouldn’t!”

“You have no idea what I’m capable of this week,” Jinhyuk said, wiping down the counters of the empty cafe. 

“He gets a little tummy ache, and thinks he’s Batman,” Dongpyo grumbled. 

“Dongpyo,” Jinhyuk said in a harsh tone. Dongpyo froze. “Go ahead and take a break with Jinwoo. I’ll watch things for now.”

Dongpyo and Jinwoo scurried off to one of the more comfortable tables with their lunches. Jinhyuk propped himself up on the counter and watched the world on the outside.

The cafe Jinhyuk worked at was nestled between two high rises in the business district. The towers housed law firms, accountants, a newspaper, a plastic surgeon’s office, and several other miscellaneous office spaces he couldn’t crane his neck far enough to see. 

Across the street was a hospital next to a beautiful park where cherry blossoms bloomed every spring. He had always wanted to have someone to come into a coffee shop like this with, get something warm to drink, and walk through the falling petals. Instead he was the one serving the coffee to couples before they wandered off into that park. That was okay because Jinhyuk made excellent coffee.

He watched office workers and doctors on their breaks pass back and forth outside of the window. Soon someone would come in because of the lemon tarts or the special hibiscus tea, but for some reason, this was an especially quiet day. 

In any other circumstance, it would have been too boring to bear, but he needed the stillness it provided. Everything was finally normal like it was supposed to be except for one thing. Why were his roommates walking towards the hospital?

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried to answer a *few* questions people had about the spooky world in apartment 211 on the left in this chapter, but there’s a lot more for Jinhyuk (and the roommates) to learn I couldn’t dump in yet. Thanks for reading!


	5. What Do We Eat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jinhyuk follows Seungyoun and Yuvin to the hospital and finally figures out his roommates’ secret.
> 
> Seungwoo puts a roommate’s care first and pays for it dearly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAPPY SEUNGYOUN DAY!!! I’m 100% posting this early because it’s his birthday. 
> 
> Please don’t grade me on consistent updates I’m impatient lol anyways enjoy!!!

Jinhyuk was sure he had been mistaken. 

It most definitely could  _ not  _ have been Seungyoun and Yuvin walking towards the hospital with slumped shoulders clearly up to something. His first thought was that someone had gotten hurt. Byungchan maybe. But they weren’t in any kind of hurry. In fact, if he didn’t know any better, they would have seemed calm and relaxed, but they were never  _ that _ calm.

In a daze, he walked across the cafe to get a better look through the window. Seungyoun and Yuvin were no doubt walking towards the hospital.

“I need to get some air,” Jinhyuk called out. “You guys are in charge.”

“Us?!” Jinwoo and Dongpyo said, but Jinhyuk didn’t hear them over the ringing in his ears.

He tossed his apron onto a nearby table and left the cafe to follow them. Although, later he would really wish he hadn’t.

Seungyoun and Yuvin never looked over their shoulders. They skipped the main entrance to the hospital and walked around the side to a private entrance. Jinhyuk never saw them swipe a keycard, but they vanished inside. He wasn’t sure how he was going to get in.  _ Can’t you open a door?  _ He cracked his neck and pulled on the metal handle. With a whirr and a hiss of compressed air, it opened. 

He had to hurry if he was going to catch up to them. He kept a safe distance and minded his footsteps as to not alert them that he was following from behind. Once they disappeared into a supply closet, he was absolutely sure they were not there for a friendly visit.  _ Good, Byungchan didn’t hurt himself.  _

He hid behind a corner, waiting for the sound of the door to reopen. With a click, he peeked his head around to see them in surgical scrubs with masks on.  _ What? _

“Excuse me,” a woman said. Jinhyuk jumped, startled. A doctor had found him sneaking around, and he had no idea how he was going to get out of this. “You’re not supposed to be here.”

Jinhyuk’s words caught in his throat.  _ Shit.  _ He had to think fast.  _ This is just a hallucination! You’re so overworked that you imagined me here!  _ He looked over her shoulder and pointed. “Is that a patient?”

“What?” She said, turning around. He took advantage of the second he had to slip away and hid in the supply closet where Byungchan and Yuvin had gone into. “Hey!”

He heard the squeak of sneakers skirt past him and fade into the distance. He let out a breath. He was in the clear, and now he just had to find his roommates.

He was sure that this was the direction that Yuvin and Seungyoun had gone in their disguises.  _ What do they need disguises for _ ?

At that point, he was lost. What was he supposed to do? Sniff them out? Follow the faint aroma of weird apartment, meat, and fabric softener? He wasn’t a bloodhound. He was a barista. 

He sighed and took a highly educated guess. By highly educated, he meant he pulled a direction out of his ass and hoped he would find a roommate and not a security guard. 

Unfortunately, if they had brought Byungchan with them, this would have been a whole lot easier because quiet and sneaky was not his forte. Jinhyuk hadn’t spent a lot of time with Yuvin yet even though they shared the closest quarters, but he wasn’t the noisiest person in the world (when he wasn’t using power tools in the closet).

After some walking and guessing, he saw them through a big glass window. The thing he saw them carry in with them appeared to be a red drink cooler, and they were placing something inside. He wanted to get a closer look, but he felt like a voyeur looking upon something he wasn’t supposed to. So he hid.

When Seungyoun and Yuvin came back down the hall towards him, he clumsily made himself known. Seungyoun gasped and dropped the container on the floor, letting out an ear shattering echo through the hospital hall. He grasped his chest. “Oh! You startled me!”

The ruckus was nothing compared to the sound of blood rushing up to Jinhyuk’s head when he saw the  _ thing _ bounce out of it onto the floor. 

Yuvin swore and scooped it up back into the box leaving a ruddy pink smudge on the white tile.

“What are you doing here,” Seungyoun asked in shock.

“What are  _ you _ doing here,” Jinhyuk demanded. “What is that?!”

“Jinhyuk, you need to be quiet,” Seungyoun warned. “It’s not what you think…”

Jinhyuk stepped back. He raised a quivering hand and pointed at the cooler and covered his mouth with the other. The realization of what they had been hiding from him all along swept over him like an ocean's riptide sucking him under, and he was unable to break from its current. 

Everything suddenly made sense. Why their food was separate. Why none of them seemed to have a job. Why their apartment was so run down and obscure. Why there were so many of them living in one space…

“You’re,” his voice shook. Seungyoun winced, bracing himself. “You’re  _ organ traffickers.” _

“We’re  _ what?”  _ Yuvin asked. He and Seungyoun looked at each other. “Wow, it’s  _ really _ not what you–.”

“Ah! You caught us,” Seungyoun said. “Darn it. Well. See you at home!”

Yuvin gave him a puzzled look, but Seungyoun tugged on him to leave.

“Wait,” Jinhyuk said. “I can’t just let you leave! I should call the police!”

“And where would you tell them to find us,” Seungyoun said in a mocking tone with his face scrunched up.

Jinhyuk blinked. “Give me our address!”

“No!”

“Guys!” He pleaded. “You can’t take that! That’s supposed to save someone’s life!”

“It is,” Yuvin said, stepping in. “Now we need to  _ go.” _

Seungyoun and Yuvin headed out of the hospital, and there was nothing Jinhyuk could do to stop them. Was he an accomplice now? What was the jail time like for someone convicted of organ trafficking? They weren’t kidnapping people and stealing their kidneys; they were taking organs from the  _ hospital!  _

_ Oh my god, what was that? A heart? What does a human heart look like when it bounces on the floor? Oh my god. _

Why he was still following them, he wasn’t sure. Maybe it was because he felt like he was supposed to, or maybe it was because he didn’t know his way out. Either way, when they reached the outside, he almost puked all over Yuvin’s shoes.

“It was good seeing you, Jinhyuk,” Seungyoun said. He patted him firmly on the shoulder. “Back to work then?”

“Yeah,” he said in a daze. “Back to work.”

_ They’re going to kill me. They’re going to kill me and sell me for parts like a stolen car.  _

Jinhyuk separated himself from Seungyoun and Yuvin and walked gingerly to the cafe. His arms and legs were stiff, and he was sure if he had to run, something would snap like a twig. At the cafe he would be safe. There were  _ cameras _ there. They couldn’t kidnap him in front of the cameras if they were any good at their jobs, and besides, he was probably at least a little faster than Dongpyo. He would never let them take Jinwoo. Not on his life.

When he was sure he was clear of them, he ran for it. He flew into the cafe, slammed the door behind him, pressed his back to the glass, and tried to catch his breath.

“Oh, you’re back,” Jinwoo said. 

Jinhyuk opened his eyes to a room full of customers staring back at him. He smiled awkwardly and went back behind the counter to help catch up on orders.

“We got super busy after you left,” Dongpyo scolded. “Just because you’re our senior, doesn’t mean you can just leave us out to dry like that.”

“I know. I know,” he said, exasperated. “It was an emergency.”

“Mhm,” Dongpyo said, not really interested. “Anyways, somebody came by to see you.”

“To see me? Who was it?”

“How should I know?”

“What did they say their name was?”

“I don’t remember.”

Jinhyuk’s mouth thinned. “Well, what did they look like?”

“Don’t remember that either,” Dongpyo said picking up a tray and heading to an empty table to clean it up. Jinhyuk almost picked up a pastry and threw it at him. Almost.

_ I can’t believe my only option other than getting murdered by my organ trafficking roommates is to hide in this cafe with Thing One and Thing Two from The Cat in the Hat.  _

Jinhyuk wanted to curl up behind the counter and hide, forgetting that he also faced things much more terrible only a couple of days before. In fact, he was so desperate to believe that his life was completely normal again, he somehow managed to skew all of the obvious signs in front of him and not see what was right under his nose.

“We have a problem,” Seungyoun said as he set the cooler onto the counter.

When they returned to their apartment, Seungwoo was found frantically cleaning up the mess Byungchan and Yuvin had made in the kitchen the night before. He was wild eyed, and his hair was sticking up in all directions. Their calm and composed leader was practically rabid, and Seungyoun considered that  _ maybe _ now wasn’t the best time.

“What is it?” Seungwoo said. The way he held the scrubbing brush made Seungyoun nervous.  _ Can you get impaled by one of those? Is he strong enough? He could if he’s mad enough. Is he mad? He looks mad.  _

“Maybe I should wait…”

“What did you do?”

Seungyoun took a step back. He raised his hands and smiled brightly. “Me? Nothing! I didn’t do anything! Please put that down.”

Seungwoo walked towards him, his grip on the scrubbing brush tightening. He backed him up against the wall and held the bristles to his neck, cold suds dripping down his collarbone.

“Loving the tension we’ve got going on here right now. Really, it’s great, but–.”

Seungwoo pushed in the bristles, not in the mood for jokes.

“Okay! Okay! Jinhyuk,” he started.

“What about Jinhyuk?” 

Seungyoun swallowed, concerned about the lethal combination of Seungwoo’s capability with cleaning tools mixed with his unexplainable fixation on the human. 

“He’s fine! He’s probably cleaning a chimney or whatever it is that he does! He just,” he cleared his throat. His shirt was now soaked in soapy water. “May have seen us at the hospital…”

_ “What?” _

“It was an accident! We swear!” Seungyoun pleaded. 

Yuvin, who was up until then doing an excellent job of not saving Seungyoun from their leader’s wrath, finally stepped in. “It was! After we got the heart, he just appeared!”

“So, he knows,” Seungwoo said, tired.

This was his chance to clear things up and prevent Seugwoo from killing them both.

“Nope!” Seungyoun said, earning a look of confusion. “It’s even better! He thinks we’re organ smugglers.”

“Organ… smugglers…” Seungwoo blinked. “Like he thinks you stole it… to sell…”

“Yes! He even threatened to call the police!” Seungyoun squeaked, taking hold of this opportunity to prove that he did not screw up nearly as badly as their leader thought.

Seungwoo snorted. He started laughing until he couldn’t breathe which made Seungyoun and Yuvin laugh with him.  _ See! I told you there’s nothing to worry about!  _ Seungwoo laughed until he was out of breath. “You idiots,” he said, gripping the counter.

“What?”

“Do you think he’s going to come back after that?” He straightened his back, an eerie cracking sound coming from his spine. “Do you know how hard it’s going to be to find another human? With a job?”

Seungyoun cocked his head. He hadn’t thought about that. They could probably find one, right? There were lots of humans lying around these days looking for roommates. Seungwoo glared at him, able to read the thoughts across his face. “He’ll come back. He signed a contract…”

Seungwoo furrowed his brows. Seungyoun looked away and chewed on a piece of dried skin on his lip. 

“He’ll come back!” He said again, not so sure himself.

“If he doesn’t, you two are going to have to find his replacement.” 

“What’s going on, guys,” Byungchan came out of Seungyoun’s room, sleepy-eyed from a long nap. He looked at Seungwoo first and then to Seungyoun and Yuvin. “On second thought, I’ll come back later.”

“You stay,” Seungwoo said. Byungchan froze. “Seungyoun and Yuvin lost our roommate.”

“No!” Byungchan shouted. “I liked that one! He was so jumpy!”

The four of them stood there quietly. Seungyoun wanted to make some kind of joke to break things up, but the words wouldn’t come out of his throat. Yuvin was being unhelpfully quiet, and he wished he would speak up instead. 

It was Byungchan who broke the silence.

“We can fix this, right?”

Jinhyuk had a lot on his mind. 

First it was apartment 211 on the left. Then it was a heart in a box. Then it was a mysterious visitor without a face and without a name. If he had his priorities together, the shadow  _ things  _ should have been in first place, but he was only human, so of course the unknown guest was what was really bothering him.

No one had ever come by his work before to see him ever. 

While he was busy worrying about who it could be, he screwed up multiple orders and deserved every complaint he received. He was supposed to be training Dongpyo and Jinwoo this week, but they had managed to figure out how everything worked by themselves to an almost uncanny degree. 

Jinhyuk hung over the counter, out of energy — both mental and physical. 

“Here,” Jinwoo said. “You look like you need a pick-me-up.”

Jinhyuk took the coffee mug gratefully. He tasted it, and although there was way too much sugar, Jinwoo did a good job. “Thank you.”

“What’s wrong?”

“I’ve just got a lot going on right now.”

At the end of their shift, Jinhyuk left work in a fog. He boarded his train in a fog. He rode his bus in a fog, and he pulled out his hand drawn map in a fog. He walked into his apartment in a fog and was met by four pairs of very confused eyes.

“What are you doing here?” Seungwoo asked.

“I live here,” Jinhyuk asked, surprised. “Don’t… I?”

His roommates were frozen. Jinhyuk blinked.

“Right?”

“Right!” They said, snapping out of it. 

Jinhyuk laughed nervously. It was his first time coming home without some kind of crisis, so they probably just weren’t used to having someone walk through the front door while they were all in there together.

The roommates were gathered around a plate of meat, and his stomach growled. He reached out to grab a bite and was stopped by a chorus of “no”s.

“What’s wrong?” His stomach sank, feeling left out again.

He could see Seungwoo’s face twist coming up with something to say, but before he could throw out an excuse, Jinhyuk saw the open and empty cooler with a pool of blood in the bottom.

“Oh my god,” he said. “Oh my god!”

“Jinhyuk, calm down,” Seungwoo tried to ease him with gentle motions. 

He turned to run, but Seungyoun was there first, his back to the door. “Wait.”

Jinhyuk backed away, a frightened animal. His back hit something soft and warm. Yuvin steaded him. “Whoa, there.”

He screamed and collapsed on the ground. “Please don’t hurt me! Please don’t! I don’t wanna die! I won’t tell anyone I swear!”

“Weren’t you going to call the police on us earlier?” Seungyoun squatted down.

“I didn’t mean it! I swear! I wouldn’t!”

“Jinhyuk,” Seungwoo crouched down beside him to try to calm him down. The world spun and darkened, and the last thing Jinhyuk remembered was his head hitting the hardwood floor. “Jinhyuk?  _ Jinhyuk?” _

He woke on the couch in his apartment, wrapped tightly in a blanket. Having his arms pressed tightly to his sides had become a familiar sensation in his new home. 

“What happened?” He said in a daze. When he opened his eyes, his roommates were there watching him. Panic set in. “What did you do to me?”

“ _ I  _ didn’t do anything to you,” Seungwoo said, offended. “ _ You _ fainted. And you’re probably the first person in the world to faint while already lying down.”

“Are you going to kill me?” He asked Seungwoo, holding his gaze so he couldn’t lie to him.

“I’ve never killed anyone,” he said softly. He patted Jinhuk’s blanket cocoon. 

Jinhyuk felt at ease despite every nerve in his body telling him to run for his life.

Seungwoo looked over his shoulder to the others.

“Do we have to leave?” Byungchan whined.

“No,” Jinhyuk said weakly. “It’s your apartment.”

He let out a tired breath.

The room was quiet, and all Jinhyuk could hear was the sound of his own breathing. He couldn’t wiggle himself free so he just stayed like that, wrapped up in Seungyoun’s safety burrito. Seungwoo crouched down next to him.

“I know what you are,” he said, tired and defeated.

“Say it,” Seungwoo said, his voice catching in his throat, everything he had worked so hard to hide unraveling before him.

“Cannibals.” 

The room lingered again. Jinhyuk’s blood ran cold as the undeniable truth spilled from his lips. Everything finally made since, and it was finally out in the open. He now understood.

Seungyoun made a loud, frustrated noise. “Really?! Are you kidding me?!”

“ _ Seungyoun… _ ” Seungwoo said through his teeth.

“Cannibals?! Can you be any worse at guessing things?!”

Byungchan tried to cover his mouth, but nothing could stop him from unleashing his spew of words and emotions.

“Ghouls! We’re ghouls! Waaaaa, this is so frustrating! Really!”

Jinhyuk’s jaw hung open. Seungwoo put his forehead on the sofa. Yuvin stood there speechless. Seungyoun bent over, his hands on his knees. 

“Feel better?” Byungchan asked. 

“Yep,” he said, doubled over. “Much better.”

“Hey, guys, we’ve got that thing…” Yuvin said.

“Ah! That thing!” Byungchan chimed in.

“Don’t–,” Seungwoo said, but the other three were gone before he could stop them. 

Jinhyuk laid in his cocoon quietly, Seungwoo on the floor next to him, his back against the sofa. Minutes passed without either one of them saying anything. 

“I have a question,” Jinhyuk said, breaking the silence.

“What’s that?” 

“And you can’t lie to me.”

“It’s not like I go around telling lies,” Seungwoo said, bothered. “You know, this narrative you have of me really hurts my feelings, and I’m just trying to keep this ship from falling apart.”

Jinhyuk wiggled the blanket over his head. “I’m sorry.”

“What’s your question?”

“What’s a ghoul,” he asked, muffled under the blanket.

Seungwoo let out a sigh. Jinhyuk waited patiently as he gathered his thoughts. “We’re just a different kind of people. It’s hard to explain.”

“Do you eat people?”

“Yes.”

“Are you going to eat me?” 

“Probably not.”

Rather than feel afraid, he felt comforted. A yes would have been frightening, but a flat no would have felt suspicious. He could work with probably not.

“Am I going to turn into a ghoul now that I’m living here?”

“I doubt it,” he said honestly.

“How did you guys...?”

“I don’t remember.”

“Oh…” he lingered. “Can you help me up?”

“No,” Seungwoo said, tired.

“Okay,” Jinhyuk breathed into the blanket. 

Seungwoo stood up and got on the couch, sliding his lap under Jinhyuk’s head. Jinhyuk’s heart jumped for no conceivable reason. 

“What are you doing?”

“In case you have another meltdown, I don’t have the energy to tackle anyone today,” Seungwoo said, drained. He turned on the tv and put on a movie without any scary scenes whatsoever. Jinhyuk relaxed at the sound of a familiar song about building a snowman from his favorite movie he was sure he never mentioned before. 

He wiggled his head back out of the blanket to watch while pretending that his roommate’s gesture hadn’t completely freaked him out just as much as everything else had that week. 

Honestly, he was growing quite numb in regard to his supernatural living space. It wasn’t so bad — just some shadow people, some man-eating cockroaches, a snake named Pumpkin, and a few ghouls for roommates who despite their many eccentricities were, all around, generally nice guys.

His eyes grew heavy as the weight of the stress spread over him, and before he drifted off to sleep, he thought that at least it couldn’t get any worse.

Seungwoo felt the rigid lump of human go limp in his lap. Worried he had fainted again, he almost shook Jinhyuk awake to make sure, but then he heard the light buzz of snoring. He was probably fine if he was snoring.

He took advantage of the quiet to relax. His plan had been to find a human with a job, hide all of their secrets from the human, and wait the human out until it died of old age. 

Instead, Jinhyuk had managed to stumble into every possible bad situation he could get into in less than a week, but he was taking it well, considering. 

If Seungyoun hadn’t snapped, they probably could have made it at least another day with Jinhyuk’s remarkable natural talent of denying and misinterpreting what was right in front of him. He sighed. 

Seungwoo hummed along with the soundtrack to himself, and before he knew it, he drifted off to sleep too.

He opened his eyes to his three roommates standing in front of the tv openly judging him.

“What are you doing?” Yuvin asked.

“Shh,” Seungwoo said. “Don’t wake him.”

Jinhyuk snored and twitched. 

He gestured down to him for emphasis. 

“How did he handle it,” Seungyoun whispered, guilty. 

“Pretty well,” Seungwoo answered. “I think he’s going to have a mental breakdown any day now.”

The other three nodded. Humans did that. They had seen it tons of times on tv. 

“What are we going to do?” Yuvin whispered. “Can he stay?”

“I don’t see why not,” Seungwoo said. He patted the lump fondly.

“Yay!” Byungchan whispered enthusiastically.

Jinhyuk stirred. Seungwoo fanned them all away before he woke up surrounded. Jinhyuk’s cocoon wiggled around and settled as if he was snuggling into his roommate. Seungwoo blinked in surprise. Seungyoun had to hold in a laugh. 

“Love your new cat,” Seungyoun teased.

“Yeah, thanks,” Seungwoo whispered sharply. 

He had no idea what he was supposed to do about this anymore, but keeping everyone calm was a good start. Keeping the human from losing his mind was even better.

Jinhyuk hadn’t slept properly in months. It wasn’t even the new place considering how shitty things had been at the other one — the one he couldn’t make himself go back to to retrieve the rest of his things from. 

And then he had had nightmares at the new apartment. Completely reasonable nightmares. But he was exhausted nonetheless. So the sleep he fell into after work was like some kind of divine event that had to have been a reward for him not completely going off the deep end. 

He was warm. So warm that he was sweating profusely. He wiggled uncomfortably, rustling himself awake. He was wrapped up in a thick bedspread so tightly he couldn’t move his arms. His pillow was terrible and lumpy. Bony even.

His eyes shot open as he realized he had been sleeping on Seungwoo’s lap the entire evening. 

“Sorry,” he muttered. He couldn't get up by himself, but it seemed that Seungwoo was fast asleep. He rolled himself to move and was able to get the back of his head against the tops of the other boy’s thighs. “Seungwoo? I can’t get up.”

He didn’t respond. 

“Seungwoo? Wake up, please.”

Jinhyuk was frustrated. He flopped around, hoping to jostle the roommate awake, but Seungwoo wasn’t moving.

_ Okay then.  _ He flung himself sideways and rolled off the couch with a loud “oof”, unraveling himself from the blanket. He hopped up, stretched, and cracked his stiff neck.  _ Guess he’s a hard sleeper. _

Except something wasn’t right. Seungwoo’s face was drained a pale gray and his lips were a dark purple. 

“Seungwoo?” He patted his cheek. He was cold to the touch and his skin was limp and… lifeless.  _ Oh my god. _

_ “Guys!”  _ He shouted and ran to the back of the apartment. “Help! Something’s wrong!”

Byungchan was nowhere to be found, Yuvin wasn’t in his closet, and when Jinhyuk banged on Seungyoun’s door, no one answered. 

“Please! Someone help!” He shouted, but the apartment was empty except for two of them and there was no way he could call for an ambulance.

Jinhyuk ran back to Seungwoo. He shook him and pleaded for him to wake up, tears streaming down his cheeks. Seungwoo’s head bucked back and forth as Jinhyuk shook but rolled to the side when he put him back.  _ He can’t be dead… _

Jinhyuk stepped back and put his hands behind his head. He had to think. It was when he looked behind the couch into the kitchen that he saw the plate of meat with a single remaining untouched portion. He gulped. 

He rushed over to it running on adrenaline and instinct. He grabbed the portion with his hand and gagged.  _ Oh, that’s disgusting. _ But there wasn’t time to be grossed out. He had to do something. He pretended that the slices of human heart tucked inside his fingertips were just cow organs.  _ Like gopchang.  _

He ran back to Seungwoo. He pried his lips open with his free hand and stuffed the pieces of heart inside. Nothing happened.

He moved Seungwoo’s jaws with his hands, smearing blood across his chin. 

“Eat up!” He said, his voice shaking. “Chew, chew chew!”

After some pleading and manually forcing Seungwoo’s lifeless body to eat, the jaw twitched and moved on its own. Seungwoo’s head tilted over and he chewed the mouthful of human flesh Jinhyuk had shoved inside. 

His eyes opened slowly and his chest rose as he took his first breath.

“Oh thank goodness,” Jinhyuk dropped to his knees. He clutched his chest.

“Did I die,” Seungwoo said with a hoarse voice.

“Yep,” he squeaked. “A whole lot of died. You were– you were not alive. Super dead.”

Seungwoo laid down on the couch. He reached up to find his own pulse in his neck and sighed in relief.

“Thank you,” he said.

“So you eat people,” Jinhyuk said with a feeling of resolution inside of him that replaced his fears. “To stay alive?”

“Yes.”

Jinhyuk watched Seungwoo recover. He didn’t know what was happening, but he could see the life spread from his mouth down to his legs.

Once Seungwoo was able to sit back up, he asked, “Can you live with this?”

“I think so,” Jinhyuk said, not sure how he could, but he had a feeling that it would be better than watching Seungwoo die. Again.

Seungwoo went back into his room and closed the door to be alone. Jinhyuk wasn’t sure if he should go back to his own or if he could stay in the living room for a while. 

Eventually the others came home, but he couldn’t make himself tell them what had happened. He had a feeling Seungwoo wouldn’t want him to. 

Byungchan and Yuvin played video games for the rest of the night, but this time he only sat on the couch and pretended to watch with too much on his mind to play or focus on the screen.

Seungyoun came by and picked his blanket up off the floor. He looked at Jinhyuk suspiciously. Jinhyuk made an apologetic expression and glanced at Seungwoo’s room. Seungyoun nodded and quietly went inside, closing Seungwoo’s door behind him without grabbing Byungchan or Yuvin’s attention. 

_ Good, he needs somebody to take care of him. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *i promised in the tags that no one gets hurt please don’t worry*
> 
> please forgive that blatant twilight reference i have no self control 
> 
> bonus: noooo dont be ghouls ur so sexy aha


	6. Normal Roommates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jinhyuk, Byungchan, and Yuvin have a surprisingly normal day together. Kind of.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Horror? What horror? This is friend time

With the combination of all that had happened the day before, Jinhyuk never thought he would have been able to sleep. He tossed and turned and was grateful that the next day was a real day off because his body was not giving in. If there was one thing he was sure about, it was that he was going to spend the day as far away from his weird apartment and his roommates as possible. He just hoped Seungwoo was okay.

He buried his face in his pillow and forced himself to sleep and forget about what he had seen and what he was willing to look away from.

The next morning his bed was soft and warm. With his eyes squeezed shut, he stretched and let out a satisfied noise that one only made after finally feeling well rested.

“Good morning!”

Jinhyuk’s eyes shot open to two pair staring back at him. He jumped back in his bed, startled, but held back a scream. He was getting better at that. “Oh! You scared me!”

Byungchan was lying next to him, propped up on his elbow with a big dimpled smile on his face.

“How did you sleep?” Byungchan asked, his voice dripping with a playful charm.

“Fine… I guess…” Jinhyuk said, sliding over to make some reasonable space between them. “What are you do–.”

“You must have had some interesting dreams,” Byungchan said with a mischievous smile.

“What do you mean? I didn’t have any dr–.”

_ “Seungwoooo, Seungwoooooo!” _ Byungchan called out in a teasing way. 

Jinhyuk reached over and covered his mouth, eyes wide in horror. “SHH!”

Byungchan giggled through Jinhyuk’s hand. The closet door opened, and a sleepy Yuvin hung his head out, his hair standing up in all directions. “He’s been doing that ever since he got here.”

“I have not!” Jinhyuk protested, his face turning a treacherous shade of red. “Shut up!”

Jinhyuk plopped down back on his pillow and closed his eyes. If this was a bad dream, he would just wake up from it again and start over. There was no way that he had been talking in his sleep about  _ Seungwoo,  _ or that Byungchan was in his bed, or that Yuvin could wake up that easily ever.  _ This is just a stupid dream _ .

Byungchan rolled over and snuggled into his side, his head on Jinhyuk’s shoulder.

Jinhyuk opened one of his eyes and looked down at the person who was definitely not real and definitely just a dream. “What are you doing?”

“Shhh,” Byungchan said. “I’m busy.”

“ _ Busy??” _

“Mhm,” he said, making himself comfortable. “You have the best bed in the apartment. I think I’m going to use this one for awhile. Seungwoo’s door was locked all night, and the couch makes my neck cramp.”

“The couch wasn’t so bad,” Jinhyuk considered.

“It’s because your body is so long.”

“What about Seungyoun’s room?”

“Have you been in there?”

“No…”

“Exactly.”

Yuvin came out and sat on the edge of the bed at Jinhyuk’s feet. He stretched and cracked his neck in both directions. Jinhyuk wasn’t used to any of this at all. Why were they acting so comfortable with him? 

Byungchan rested on his chest for a while, almost drifting off to sleep. Yuvin stared off into space while his body woke up one nerve at a time. Jinhyuk laid there, not sure what he was supposed to do. Something bothered him, though.

“Seungwoo’s door was locked all night?”

“See,” Byungchan nuzzled. “You’re not even trying to hide it.”

Jinhyuk almost flung him off, but instead he tried to keep his cool.

“ _ Badadoom, badadoom, badadoom.” _

“What?” Jinhyuk asked, confused.

“That’s what your heart sounds like right now.”

Jinhyuk tried to slide away, but Byungchan’s arm had an iron grip around his ribs.

“I’m just kidding,” he said. “I think he was upset.”

“Did he say about what?”

“Nope. He hasn’t talked to anyone that I know of.”

But Jinhyuk knew what might have upset him so much, and he knew that Seungyoun had gone in there with him. He wondered if he was still in Seungwoo’s room. Was he taking care of him? Was Seungwoo okay? Why hadn’t they told the others? And then he realized that the only reason Seungyoun had known that Seungwoo had  _ died  _ in the first place, was because Jinhyuk had told him. Seungwoo probably hadn’t wanted Seungyoun to know either.

Byungchan quickly fell asleep on his chest. Yuvin offered an apologetic shrug and left the room to shower, leaving him alone with his thoughts. He patted Byungchan’s hair. At least someone had no worries.

As his mind wandered, he felt something cold and distinctly  _ moist  _ on his chest.

“Byungchan?”

The sleeping ghoul didn’t answer. He sighed.  _ Gross. _ He wiggled out from under him, shirt saturated in drool. Byungchan rolled into his pillow and pulled the blanket over himself. Jinhyuk scoffed.  _ I can’t believe this. _

Yuvin was still in the bathroom, so Jinhyuk opted to get something to eat instead. 

Seungwoo’s door was closed tight. He wanted to knock and check on him, but he couldn’t make himself. They didn’t even really know each other that well. It wasn’t his place. At least that’s what he kept telling himself to keep his distance.

He opened the fridge and appreciated the clear divide of food, all of his containers neatly stacked and labeled.  _ Not people.  _ The other containers pushed to the left side were most definitely people or leftover parts of them. His stomach churned.  _ Maybe just vegetables today. _

Yuvin came out and sat across from him, hair soaked but more or less awake. “What are you eating?”

“Just the side dishes you guys made,” he said, grateful. “Do you want any?”

Yuvin scanned over the dishes and thought about it. “Do you mind?”

“No! Of course not! I didn’t know you guys ate… plants.”

“We fed yesterday, so I’m good for a little bit,” Yuvin said, getting up to grab a bowl. He filled it with rice and various side dishes and mixed it up. “Wow, it’s nice to eat normal food for once.”

Jinhyuk cleared his throat. “What do  _ people  _ taste like?”

“Kind of gamy,” Yuvin said. 

Jinhyuk wished he hadn’t asked.

They had breakfast together like two normal, human people. Jinhyuk talked about what work was like with his two tiny trainees, and Yuvin talked about what they did all day. Which was nothing. In fact, if not for the need to go out and find food every couple of days, they probably would never have a reason to leave the apartment. Jinhyuk, a comfortable homebody, could sympathize.

A sleepy Byungchan joined them after finishing his morning nap. He mixed rice with chilli paste without coming near a vegetable.

“Would you like me to cook you some eggs,” Jinhyuk offered.

Byungchan rubbed his eye. “No, thank you.”

For the rest of the meal, breakfast was normal. Too normal. Jinhyuk felt uneasy. Any second now a ghost could burst through the door and throw radioactive spiders at them. He waited, listening to the sound of his own breathing, eye on the door.

“What are you doing?” Yuvin said, looking back at the door suspiciously.

“Waiting,” Jinhyuk said, firm.

“For what?” Byungchan asked.

“Shit to hit the fan.”

Yuvin let out a breath. “Oh good, I thought we were going to have visitors.”

“I like visitors,” Byungchan mused. 

Jinhyuk shook himself. He was being ridiculous. Nothing was going to happen. 

He cleaned up from breakfast and then left to take a shower and get dressed. 

“Where are you going?” Byungchan asked.

“I’m going to go downtown. Maybe do some shopping.”

“Can I come?” 

“Do you need to pick up anything? I can get it for you,” he offered, not sure why Byungchan would possibly want to go anywhere with him.

“I just wanted to go,” he shrugged. “But if you don’t want me to, that’s fine I guess.”

“No! No, I just was going to save you a trip! You can come, of course.”

Byungchan brightened up, his signature dimples shining through.  _ “I knew you’d say yes.” _

“Can I go?” Yuvin asked. Jinhyuk never imagined that he would willingly leave the comfort of his closet, but why not? Three was better than one.

“If you want to! I’ll wait for you guys to get dressed then.”

Byungchan and Yuvin did not like riding on the train. As it turned out, Yuvin and Seungyoun usually took the trips into town, and Byungchan stayed home with Seungwoo for the most part. Yuvin knew what they were getting into, but Byungchan, despite his excitement upon seeing the station, suffered from motion sickness.

It was a long ride with a vow to never ride a train again, and Jinhyuk felt sorry for them. Being a ghoul must have been hard. It was then that he had the idea of where he needed to go — the library.

Once they were in the general vicinity, he announced that he had to go in to find a book. Based on their reactions, it seemed that ghouls weren’t too excited about the idea of books, but they were both quite thrilled by the arcade across the street.

“I’ll come get you when I find what I’m looking for,” he said. He turned to Yuvin. “Don’t let him cross the street by himself. If he gets hungry, here’s some money for snacks.”

Yuvin looked back at him and blinked.

_ What?  _

Yuvin shrugged and pocketed the money. They parted ways, and Jinhyuk took a breath.  _ Now I can get some answers. _

It was one thing to directly ask, but he had a feeling that he wasn’t going to get any information out of Seungwoo for a while. He still had to get closer to Yuvin and Seungyoun, and he wasn’t sure Byungchan knew anything. But then again, Byungchan could have known everything there was to know, but still he wanted to find out what he could independently. The library was the only place that could happen. 

He went inside and realized he had no idea what he was doing or what he was supposed to be looking for. The place was huge, and he didn’t even know if there was a “my roommates are spooky” shelf in the self help section.

He approached the front desk, feeling shy and slightly embarrassed. “Excuse me.”

A warm looking librarian looked up from the computer she was working on and smiled over a pair of glasses perched on the tip of her nose. “Yes, can I help you?”

He looked around to make sure no one else was in earshot. He lowered his voice, “I need to find a book.”

“Yes,” she said, expectant.

He blinked. 

“Ah, right!” he chuckled, still nervous. “This is a library.”

She smiled. “Yes it is. What kind of book are you looking for?”

He thought for a moment, his mouth twisting from one direction to the next. “Ahhhh…”

“What’s the subject?”

“Ghouls,” he blurted out. “Like ghosts and things.”

“Hmm, we have a section on the third floor of supernatural creatures and phenomena. Would you like to start there?”

“Yes!” He said, louder than he meant to. A pair of students nearby glared at him. He bowed apologetically. “I mean, yes, I think so.”

“When you go up to the third floor, take a left and the section can be found on the last shelf at the end after the books on North American alien encounters.”

“Great,” he blinked. “Yes, thank you.”

“Do you need me to help you find it?”

“No,” he said in a haze. “If I can’t find them, I’ll come back down.”

_ How many aliens go to North America for there to be more than one book? Shit, are aliens real too?  _ He shook his head. That was someone else’s problem. He had his own, and they were waiting for him at an arcade.  _ I should have given them game money.  _ He clicked his tongue. He would have to make this quick before they got bored and ran off.

There was something eerie about libraries. It was something he noticed when he was in school that they had this energy about them where time stopped moving just like at hospitals or abandoned bus stops. He shivered, and he suddenly felt like he had to pee.  _ Stop it. _

He took the elevator up to the third floor and bounced on his feet as it moved him upwards, dinging cheerfully as it passed the second floor. The elevator at home didn’t ding, and there was nothing cheerful about it. Seungwoo was not a very good building owner. At least the rent was cheap.

He took a left on the third floor, and after some bad guesses, he found the section the librarian had directed him too. A lot of it seemed based on films and mythology, but his fingers grazed the spine of an old leather bound tome wedged between two other books that looked more like a grimoire than an encyclopedia.  _ Lee’s Field Guide for the Supernatural.  _ His hand picked over to the next book which had pictures and a bright, clean cover.

He flipped through the less-intimidating book and sighed. That wasn’t going to work. He placed it back in the spot he found out, and grabbed the tome. It was cold in his hand, and the bottom stuck to the shelf as if someone had spilled something sugary underneath it.

He took the book to a nearby table. When he pulled back the cover, a pungent odor rose from the pages. He gagged.  _ Oh, god.  _ It was a familiar stench, but one he couldn’t place.

He ran his finger down the index.  _ Ghouls… ghouls… ghouls… ah!  _ He found the page number for the chapter on ghouls between ghosts and goblins. 

The text was old and looked like it was made on an old type printing press.  _ Should I be using gloves?  _ He was just happy that it wasn’t handwritten or in hanja.

He scanned the pages, unable to fully concentrate, but he was able to extract some extremely valuable information.

_ Ghouls, as they are commonly known, are undead supernatural creatures that feed on human flesh for survival. Ghouls are typically non-aggressive unless threatened or in danger.  _

_ Ghouls do not kill for food, but are recognizable as the scavengers of the supernatural world — more similar to crows and vultures than their inhuman counterparts. (See: zombies.) Historically they are known to be graverobbers. _

_ Ghouls are thought to be nocturnal due to their hunting schedules, but this has not been scientifically confirmed. _

_ Ghouls must maintain a rigorous feeding schedule. If a ghoul goes too long without consuming human flesh, it may become restless, agitated, or feral as a side effect of a condition commonly known as “Brain Rot”. _

_ Brain Rot occurs naturally in ghouls between feedings, but, if left untreated, can be fatal. If brain activity ceases, and the ghoul does not consume human flesh within 24 hours after death, the creature will resurrect rabid and vicious, mimicking the behavior of the common household zombie.  _

Jinhyuk swallowed. He didn’t know Seungwoo well, but he felt heartbroken for him. He was so busy worrying about Jinhyuk, that he had almost let himself rot away. He now understood why he had wanted to be alone. It must have been a burden, taking care of the others and making sure everyone ate like they were supposed to.

He continued reading.

_ The origin of ghouls is unknown. Many believe that they have always existed as a separate humanoid being alongside humankind, but some experts have suggested that ghouls were once human themselves. These experts speculate that ghouls were humans who, upon death, were so consumed by their own greed that they were damned to survive off of the flesh of other humans until the end of time. Although, it should be noted, no expert or known human has ever spoken to a ghoul on record, and therefore, all theories and histories are based on myth and speculation. At this time, only their diets have been extensively researched. _

So that was it then. Ghouls ate people, and no one knew how they got that way. Jinhyuk set his head on the book and sighed. He was exhausted and drained and never wanted to read about a ghoul again.

“What are you looking at?” Yuvin asked. 

Jinhyuk jumped and closed the book as fast as he could.

“Nothing!”

“Ah, that doesn’t look like nothing,” Byungchan snatched it up. “What is this?  _ Lee’s Field Guide for the Supernatural.  _ Why?”

“Just… reading.”

Byungchan frowned, a flash of anger in his eyes that Jinhyuk has never seen before. “What are you doing?”

“Nothing, I–,” he tried to explain.

Byungchan opened the book, presumably to the section about them. He sighed. “I hate these things. They talk about us like we’re a science experiment. If you have a question, just ask.”

Yuvin took the book from him and closed it. “It’s okay, Byungchan.”

“No, it’s not. We don’t go sneaking around like this. We’ve been perfectly honest except for the time I went through Jinhyuk’s things, and when we hid the human meat from him, and when we took him to the ghost mart for groceries, or when we–,” he stopped himself.

“You went through my things?” Jinhyuk asked, appalled.

“That’s the part you’re worried about?” Yuvin said, surprised.

Jinhyuk sighed. He stood up and took the book back. “I just wanted to find out some answers for myself. I didn’t want to make you guys explain things you didn’t want to, but I didn’t know if it was safe for me to be there, and with what happened to Seungwoo–.”

“What happened to Seungwoo?” Byungchan’s face darkened. Jinhyuk took a step back. 

“Nothing! He’s fine! He just had an accident… I guess.”

Byungchan stepped forward, a protective aura around him that engulfed Jinhyuk. He felt a thickness in his lungs that made him cough for air.

“Okey dokey” Yuvin said, grabbing Byungchan by the arm. “Don’t kill the human, please.”

“I want you to tell me what happened to Seungwoo,” Byungchan said, not taking his eyes off of Jinhyuk. 

“Seungwoo,” Jinhyuk said, coughing. “Forgot to eat last night, and he kind of–.”

“He kind of what?” Byungchan’s eyes watered. “What happened?”

“He was  _ unconscious,”  _ Jinhyuk tried to ease into it, but Byungchan paled. “He’s fine though! I got him to eat! He’s fine!”

Byungchan stepped back and sighed in relief. “He’s alive?”

“Yeah! Seungyoun went to check on him!”

Byungchan wiped a tear from his cheek and left first to get some air. Jinhyuk hadn’t realized how close they were.

“Ah, man, that was close,” Yuvin said. He patted Jinhyuk on the arm. 

“Yeah, I woke up in time to get the heart in his mouth.”

“No, I mean, I think Byungchan almost just killed you.”

Jinhyuk swallowed, a look of horror on his face.

Jinhyuk and Yuvin went back together after Byungchan. Jinhyuk worried that he would have run off without them, and then they would never be able to find him.

“It’s not you,” Yuvin tried to cheer him up. “He’s just sensitive about that book.”

“Why?”

“Because it treats us like animals,” Yuvin said, sad as if it was also something that haunted him. “It’s the section on where we come from. No one wants to be told that they died one day, and they were so horrible that even death didn’t want them.”

Jinhyuk frowned to himself. He hadn’t given that part much thought, but they were good and kind to him. They hadn’t been selfish or thoughtless, not even once. They only hid from him what they thought they had to. How could he blame them when they were talked about like vultures in some spooky old field guide written by the only humans who ever bothered to notice them?

“I shouldn’t have told him,” Jinhyuk said, regarding Seungwoo’s condition. 

“Probably not,” Yuvin said. “But he’ll always be grateful that you did. You see, Seungwoo thinks he has to shoulder the burden for everything, and sometimes he forgets to take care of himself too.”

“And what the book said… about that… is it true?”

“I don’t know,” Yuvin said, honestly. “But I guess the experts would know.”

Jinhyuk was sorry to Byungchan, but to Yuvin too. He had no idea the impact it was going to have on them when he sought the book out.  _ I’ve gotta make it up to them. _

When they caught up with Byungchan, he was wandering down the sidewalk lost in thought. Jinhyuk wrapped his arm around his elbow like Byungchan had done to him before, determined to bring back his roommate’s smile. Byungchan did not smile, but he didn’t unhook himself either.

“Let’s get something to eat!” Jinhyuk said. “My treat!”

“I’m not hungry,” he said, tired.

Jinhyuk looked at Yuvin to back him up. 

“I could use something to eat,” Yuvin said. “So hungry.”

“Yes, we are  _ starving.  _ Hey! Look! A corndog stand!” Jinhyuk said, dragging Byungchan with him.

A child bit into his corndog, and a long string of melty, gooey cheese stretched out from the center. Byungchan’s stomach growled, and he smacked his lips. Jinhyuk’s plan was working.

He bought three corndogs. Byungchan seemed to forgive him thanks to the power of the stretchy cheese. Yuvin also seemed to be more relaxed than he was in the library. Jinhyuk was grateful that they didn’t hold grudges. Or at least he hoped that they didn’t. 

The trio left to return to apartment 211 on the right after their snack, but all were walking on egg shells. Byungchan’s bubbly energy was replaced by a placated storm, Yuvin was acting as a continuous calming force, and Jinhyuk was just trying to not reactivate their earlier conversation. All he wanted to do was get back to their creepy apartment which would act as neutral territory. 

He didn’t have to bother with his map with the two of them there leading the way, but something was different. It was much darker outside than it should have been as if it was already blue hour except everything was colored a heavy gray as if under heavy cloud cover. It wasn’t overcast, but he had seen this look in video games and maybe even a dream.

Yuvin and Byungchan noticed it too. They were looking around suspiciously. 

A cold burst of wind chilled the three of them. They huddled together, aware of how exposed they were.

“What’s going on?” Jinhyuk asked.

“Shh,” Byungchan whispered. “Something’s wrong.”

“This seems awfully familiar,” Yuvin said quietly. “Almost like…”

“The other side,” Jinhyuk said, frozen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to cut this sucker in half so I’m posting early lol
> 
> Did anyone else have a heart attack @ Seungwoo and Seungyoun’s teasers because I sure did. OH and Jinhyuk’s guest appearance on radio star was so good!!!


	7. Devil in the Sky

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The five roommates face their first big challenge as a piece of the other side comes out to play.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was the most fun chapter to write ever. Sorry for making everyone wait, but I felt it was best to split it in half, and I’m glad I did.
> 
> Consistency? Never!

Seungwoo woke to a terrible headache. 

It wasn’t the first time he had been consumed by Brain Rot, but it wasn’t something one ever became accustomed to. It was worse than any hangover or headache a human could experience, not that he exactly remembered what those felt like, but still, it was like having large grains of sand embedded in the crevices of his brain as the blood slowly spread back through them.

The night was spent with his head slung over his bed into a garbage bin. He wretched until he had completely emptied the contents of his stomach which had to be replaced immediately to stop the process. Seungyoun sat on the side of his bed all night with a damp cloth and a tin of leftovers. Seungwoo had cried as he chewed the bits of fat and gristle they saved for stews and soups. A part of him wanted to be free from the pain, to let the sweet release of the transformation take over, but Seungyoun wouldn’t let him go. They had too much work left to do together. Byungchan and Yuvin needed them both.

Early into the morning, his body had collapsed into the bed. It was over. All he had to do after that was sleep it off and prepare for the headache.

Hours later he sat on the end of his bed, drained and suffering. Seungyoun was asleep, worn out from his dutiful caregiving in the spot where Byungchan spent most of his nights. Seungwoo sighed. Byungchan’s feelings were probably hurt by being left out all night, or he was out there worried sick. Both possibilities were not ideal.

He stretched and stood up, steadying himself against the rush of blood from his head to his toes. It would take a while to get back to normal, but he was incredibly relieved that he wasn’t rabid. He didn’t want to hurt people, and who knew how many humans would have died unnecessarily if he had changed. He shook himself. That wasn’t going to happen. He was good, and he was in control.

He left to brush his teeth and wash his face. The reflection that stared back at him was pale and lifeless. His lips were a dull violet, and gray shadows hung under his eyes. He needed juice and maybe a liver.

The apartment was quiet and lifeless. Dishes from the morning were drying on the rack, so the others had been awake. Still, not seeing them in the living room playing games or watching tv made him ache. He missed them. 

Jinhyuk’s door was closed tight, but he had probably gone to work that morning. Seungwoo opened in carefully. It was empty with no sign of Byungchan snooping around. He didn’t know what he had expected to find in their new roommate’s things. Convenience store receipts? Hair gel? A bag of old coins? What did humans carry around anyways?

Byungchan and Yuvin were probably napping together. He decided to gently wake them up and make a kettle of tea. That would make him feel better. He opened the closet door, but it was empty (except for the massive hole in the wall that he would most definitely have to scold Yuvin for later).  _ Where is everybody? _

“Seungyoun,” Seungwoo called out, his voice hoarse and sore. “Seungyoun!”

Seungyoun stumbled in, barely able to open his eyes. “What is it?”

“They’re gone.”

“Who?”

“Our roommates,” he scratched his head. “They’re not here.”

“Maybe they went out,” Seungyoun suggested, too groggy to process anything he said. 

“When do we ever go out?”

He thought for a moment. Seungyoun’s eyes widened. “Yeah, that is weird now that you mention it.”

“I think we should go look for them.” 

“You need to eat and finish your recovery,” Seungyoun said, pushing Seungwoo out and into the kitchen. “They probably just went for a walk.”

Seungwoo resisted, but he knew he would be useless until he was better. 

Seungyoun insisted that he make breakfast for them. He took out a plump, healthy liver from the freezer that they saved for emergencies. He warmed it under the faucet while cutting up a variety of vegetables. Despite popular belief in certain field guides, ghouls did in fact need a healthy diet of vitamins and minerals just like humans. 

He stirfried the liver and vegetables and added four cracked eggs into the mixture until everything cooked together. Then he placed the frying pan on a hot pad on the table between them with a couple of spoons.

“Dig in,” Seungyoun said.

“Do we have any juice?” Seungwoo said, his mouth watering.

“I think there’s some orange juice in the fridge,” he said, scooping a spoonful into his mouth. “Well don’t look at me, you can get it.”

Seungwoo frowned. 

“How long do I have to baby you today?” Seungyoun pretended to scold.

Seungyoun’s frown drooped into a full pout.

“You’re worse than Pumpkin!” Seungyoun slid his chair back and got the juice bottle out. Seungwoo grinned to himself, satisfied. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“Thank youuu,” he said, playfully.

“You’re feeling well enough now to do the dishes then?”

“I guess,” he grumbled. 

Feeling normal again, Seungwoo remembered that his roommates were missing, and he decided to go look for them. Byungchan might have wanted to visit granny, the ghost shopkeep who looked out for them sometimes. Yuvin may have wanted to go find something to cover up the hole in his closet. They were probably fine, but Seungwoo still felt uneasy. 

“Do you want me to go with you?” Seungyoun asked, pulling on his coat.

“Are you asking?”

“No,” he laughed. 

They closed the apartment door behind them, not bothering to lock it. It’s not like they could get robbed at a place that didn’t technically exist and couldn’t be found without supernatural assistance.

“Do you hear something?” Seungyoun asked.

Seungwoo held his breath and listened. “No, I don’t hear anything. What is it?”

Seungyoun leaned his ear against the door to apartment 211 on the left. It was a place that not even they dared to enter, but the sound was coming from inside, and he was undeniably curious. He looked at Seungwoo and raised an eyebrow.

Seungwoo pressed his ear against the door. He could hear something blamming around inside like the place was being torn apart.

“Crawlers?” Seungwoo mouthed.

Seungyoun frowned and shook his head. 

The noise stopped. Neither one of them breathed. Seungwoo pulled back and shrugged. It must have been the roaches, stirred up by Jinhyuk’s visit the other day. Seungyoun grabbed the handle.

“Don’t!” Seungwoo mouthed. Seungyoun raised a finger to his own lips to quiet the other.

“It’s fine,” he mouthed back.

He turned the handle carefully, opening the passage to the other side. Seungwoo stepped back subconsciously. The apartment was dark, but it was empty. Seungyoun let out a breath. 

“See, I told you it was fi–.”

A large winged humanoid creature hissed and flapped out of the apartment. Its ear piercing screech echoed through the building, waking everything that waited inside.

“Shit!” Seungwoo shouted. He fell backwards, escaping the burning edge of a sharpened talon. “Close the door!”

Seungyoun slammed the door before the roaches escaped. The creature looked down at them from where it flew and let out an earth shattering sound that froze Seungwoo on the floor, his heart pounding against his chest. 

The creature’s arms that doubled as wings flapped above him, and a pair of sightless amber eyes pierced through him. He opened his mouth to scream, but it caught in his throat.

“Ya!” Seungyoun shouted. He tossed his shoe at the window. It bounced off, but the creature screeched and followed the sound of the rubber against the glass. It broke through, shards of glass and bloodied feathers falling to the ground like rain. It cried out in pain, but they had time to get away.

“What is that?!” Seungwoo said in a half cry.

“I think it’s a harpy,” Seungyoun said, voice shaking in terror. “We need to  _ go.” _

He pulled Seungwoo up and opened their apartment door. 

“No, I need to find the others,” Seungwoo said before sprinting down the stairs.

“You idiot!” Seungyoun called out. “It will tear you apart!”

_ Better me than the others.  _

“Hey!” But Seungwoo was already gone.

The world darkened as the harpy flapped its wings, conjuring a storm that could devastate the city. It cried out and static erupted from its talons, shocking the light posts on either side of the street. Seungwoo covered his head as the bulbs burst above him. He had to find the others and get them inside to safety. 

He heard a scream and a loud crash. He ran as fast as he could down the street to the edge of their neighborhood where Byungchan was crouched on the ground, Yuvin was standing over him, swinging some kind of metal rod, and Jinhyuk was flinging a garbage can at the harpy. Rotten garbage clung to its feathers and it dove down after him, its talons aimed towards his face.

“Nope!” Yuvin shouted. He swung his bar at the harpy, striking it in the stomach. The creature cried out in pain and shot backwards. The two put their backs to Byungchan and waited, ready to fight.

Seungwoo ran over to them.

“We need to get inside.”

“What the hell is that?” Yuvin said, eyes shaking in terror.

“It might be a harpy,” he said, not sure himself. 

“Anything about harpies in your book?” Yuvin asked Jinhyuk, who was armed with his now empty garbage bin.  _ What book?  _

“I didn’t get a chance to read that far,” he said, out of breath. His eyes never left the harpy that circled wounded over their heads. “Get Byungchan inside.”

Byungchan was curled up on the ground. Seungwoo at first thought he was cowering, but then he saw the blood. 

“Go!” Jinhyuk ordered.

_ Damn, okay. _

Seungyoun ran to them with a backpack slung over his shoulder. 

“Here,” he said, unzipping the bag. “Throw these at it.”

The bags were filled with a balloons filled with some kind of liquid.

“Water balloons?” Jinhyuk asked, stunned in disbelief. 

“Please.” Seungyoun said, annoyed to be doubted so boldly. He saw Byungchan on the ground. “Oh my god, what happened?”

“I’ll get him inside,” Seungwoo said, piggybacking Byungchan. “You know what you’re doing, right?”

“No,” Seungyoun said, but that was all Seungwoo could expect from any of them.

He ran back to the apartment, pulled down by the deadweight on his back.  _ You are  _ never  _ going out unsupervised again. _

“When it dives down, I need you guys to douse it, okay?” Seungyoun instructed. He took Yuvin’s rod and dropped to his knees. “Get me some of those newspapers”

“What are you doing?” Yuvin asked. 

“Killing a harpy before it kills us.”

Jinhyuk swallowed. He kicked over some stray papers and armed himself with the water balloons. 

“Hurry! It’s coming!”

The harpy screeched and dove down at them. It was enraged, injured, and wild. Jinhyuk tossed his balloon at its stomach. It shrieked, but it didn’t seem to affect the harpy at all. The balloon burst, and what Jinhyuk had assumed was tap water rained down on him. He gasped in shock as the cold liquid hit him.  _ Alcohol? _

He and the harpy were drenched in what smelled like a really potent brand of soju. 

“Keep going! Don’t let it grab you! Don’t let it grab me!” Seungyoun shouted. He wrapped the rod in paper and tied it together with a piece of string until he made something that looked like a giant greasy cotton swab. 

Yuvin and Jinhyuk continued to toss their balloons at the harpy, alternating between throwing and dodging its dives towards them. They ran in circles, distracting it while Seungyoun worked. 

“Alright, get back,” Seungyoun called out. Jinhyuk and Yuvin stopped and looked. He lit the wad of paper on fire like a torch. “HERE UGLY BIRD!” 

The harpy screeched and dove for Seungyoun, Jinhyuk ran back, armed with another balloon. Seungyoun swung the flaming rod into the harpy, and it ignited. The creature flew up and crashed into a building, tumbling to the ground. It rolled itself on the ground, crying out in pain. 

“Don’t let it put itself out!” 

Jinhyuk and Yuvin ran towards it with the rest of the balloons. It shrieked and clawed at the air as the fire burned off its feathers and patches of skin. Seungyoun trotted towards them. The creature twitched on the ground and whimpered. 

“Don’t look,” he said.

Jinhyuk turned away and heard a sound that made his blood curl. It was like a large cut of meat had been pierced on the end of a spear followed by the hiss of fire against flesh. The creature let out a loud screech that became a gurgle before an ear deafening silence.

“It’s over,” Yuvin said. He let out a breath in relief.

Unable to believe it without seeing with his own eyes, Jinhyuk turned back. The harpy was on the ground with the burning metal pipe shoved through its stomach. Blood spilled out from its gaping beak and too-human golden eyes stared up at the sky. The scent of burning meat and spilled guts filled the air. He gagged and vomited, uncontrollably.

“Gross!” Seungyoun shouted. “I said not to look!”

Jinhyuk wiped his mouth,disgusted. “I didn’t know you did  _ that!” _

Seungyoun looked back, shocked. “What else was I supposed to do? Watch it flop around and suffer? Wait for it to get back up and pluck our eyes out?”

Jinhyuk blinked. “That’s… fair.”

Yuvin patted them both on the shoulder. “Let’s go, and watch your feet.”

Jinhyuk stepped over the puddle of his own vomit and smiled, embarrassed. “Sorry.”

“You smell really bad, dude,” Seungyoun said. “Like soju and hot garbage.”

“I guess some fell on me while I was trying to scare it off,” he patted himself. His clothes were saturated by a mixture of alcohol, garbage juice, and blood. He wasn’t sure who the latter belonged to.

Seungwoo dropped Byungchan on the couch. He ran back and shut the door behind him. It was unlikely that harpies could open doors, but he would cross that bridge when he came to it.

Byungchan groaned in pain. “Seungwoo?”

“I’m here,” he ran over. He dropped down on his knees beside him. “How you doing, buddy?”

Byungchan laughed and coughed. “I’m great, how you doing?”

“I need to see the wound,” Seungwoo said, softly. “Stay still, alright?”

Byungchan nodded and closed his eyes. Seungwoo went into the kitchen. He soaked a rag with cold water and grabbed a pair of scissors.

“I promise I’ll buy you a new shirt,” he said. “Well, Jinhyuk will buy it. I’ll just pick it out.”

Seungwoo slid the scissors under his shirt and snipped the bottom seam. He cut upwards, careful not to touch the skin. The shirt had to be peeled off where it clung to the blood on Byungchan’s stomach. 

Byungchan winced. 

“That’s not so bad,” Seungwoo said quietly, trying to conceal the worry in his voice. “See, it’s barely a scratch.”

The talon had torn his flesh, but the bleeding had stopped. He would need to feed soon, but he would heal. Seungwoo wiped up the blood around the wound with the cloth. Byungchan whimpered through the pain and the chill of the wet rag.

“Shh,” he said. “Don’t be a baby.”

“It hurts,” Byungchan protested.

“So? Life hurts.”

Byungchan snorted. “Ow.”

“See, if you can laugh, you’re okay.”

Byungchan closed his eyes and relaxed. Seungwoo wished he too could relax. He needed to be out helping the others. The three of them had no idea what they were up against, and they were only armed with a metal pipe, a garbage can, and a sack of water balloons. 

“Go,” Byungchan said, eyes still shut.

“I need to stay here with you,” he said, resolved.

“You want to be out there.”

“No, I don’t.”

“You think I can’t hear you when you’re this close?” 

Seungwoo frowned. “Stop listening.”

Byungchan shook his head. “Nuh uh. Go. They need all the help they can get. You should have seen that thing. It was so big… so angry…”

“I saw it,” he said.

“No, you didn’t  _ see  _ it. I was so close.”

“Shhh…”

“No, let me talk.” Byungchan tried to sit up. His face was flush and desperate. “I  _ saw it _ . When it cut me. I could hear it.”

Seungwoo pushed him down carefully. He heard a shriek outside of the building and tensed. 

“Seungwoo,” Byungchan said. “Death is coming.”

“What?” 

“The other side,” he coughed. “It’s here.”

Byungchan’s eyes rolled back as he fell unconscious. 

“Hey!” Seungwoo said. “Byungchan!”

He leaned over his body and pressed two fingers against his throat. There was a pulse, but it was faint. Byungchan’s chest rose and fell, still breathing. Seungwoo relaxed. He was okay. He was out, but he was okay.

He finished cleaning up the blood when the others came in. Yuvin looked at Byungchan’s body in horror. 

“He’s fine,” Seungwoo said. “Did you guys take care of it?”

Seungyoun swung the bloody, smouldering rod over his shoulder. “It’s dead.”

Seungwoo closed his eyes, almost ready to cry from joy. “Does anyone have a first aid kit?”

“I might,” Jinhyuk said. He was soaked in a mysterious liquid and smelled like rotting garbage.

“You stink,” Seungwoo said, covering his nose. 

Jinhyuk frowned.  _ “I know…” _

“No, like you really stink,” Seungwoo insisted. “Like ‘get out of my house’ stink.”

“I pay the rent here,” Jinhyuk said, unphased. “I stay.”

He went into his room and returned with a first aid kit. Seungwoo covered his mouth with one hand and accepted it with the other. He gagged.

“Really?” Jinhyuk asked, appalled. “You eat dead people.”

Seungwoo gagged again into his elbow. “You smell worse than dead people.”

“Alright,” Seungyoun said. “Let’s get you into the bath before he burns the place down with us inside.”

“But Byungchan!” Jinhyuk said, worried, as Seungyoun dragged him away.

“I’m sure he’ll still be here by the time you get out,” he insisted. He sniffed and grimaced. “On second thought, we might have to scrub you instead before you knock the rest of us out.”

Jinhyuk was dragged into the bathroom against his will. Yuvin and Seungyoun pulled off his clothes to be discarded or burned (whichever came first). He covered himself, embarassed.

“It’s nothing we haven’t seen before,” Seungyoun said, focused on his task. He grabbed the shower head and hosed him down. Yuvin turned away to avoid the stench and squeezed a bottle of shower gel on him. 

“Ahh!” Jinhyuk shrieked as the cold gel clung to his skin. “I can do this by myself!”

“Get the brush,” Seungyoun instructed. Yuvin grabbed a washing brush and scrubbed the soap into Jinhyuk’s skin. 

“Ow! That’s too rough!”

“Imagine how we feel!” Yuvin scolded. “Spray him!”

Too hot water shot over his skin. He yelped. 

Seungyoun and Yuvin alternated relentlessly between scrubbing and hosing him down until the garbage smell was replaced by lavender and lemongrass. Jinhyuk’s skin was red and angry. There wasn’t a spa on earth that could clean someone as well as a ghoul could, apparently.

They left him to finish up, taking his soiled clothes with them. He hoped they didn’t burn them or throw them away. He hadn’t packed that many when he moved in.

Jinhyuk stood under a stream of hot water, the leftover soju running out of his hair and down his shoulders. With what they had faced, he shouldn’t have been thinking about his old home and his old life, but he couldn’t help it. He missed it. Both the place where the rest of his things were and the person who lived there.

“I’m clean,” Jinhyuk said, emerging from the bathroom. The other three were crouched around Byungchan who still hadn’t woken up. Seungyoun finished stitching the wound while Seungwoo watched anxiously. Yuvin’s face was drained of color. “Is he okay?”

“He needs to eat,” Seungwoo said. “If he doesn’t, he could die.”

Jinhyuk swallowed, a sinking feeling hitting deep within his stomach. He immediately went into the kitchen to the fridge. He pulled out all of the containers that weren’t his.

“What do I get?” He asked the roommates behind him, not turning around. A part of him felt responsible, but for no logical reason. If Byungchan had dived in front of him heroically, his injury would have been Jinhyuk’s fault. The truth was, the harpy came from nowhere and clawed him before shooting back into the sky like a hawk. They were all taken equally by surprise, but Byungchan was the only one who left with a scar. He couldn’t die. Not like this.

“There’s not enough,” Seungyoun looked at the containers. “We have to get more.”

“Where?” Jinhyuk looked at him, wild eyed. “Where do we get more? The hospital?”

Seungyoun shook his head. “Do you mind paying your rent early this month?”

Jinhyuk went back to his room and emptied his wallet onto the bed. He took out the tips he had shoved in his pockets, and he grabbed the stash of money from the bottom of his bag. He barely had enough for the first month, but he still had a few weeks left to earn it at the cafe. 

Seungwoo appeared from behind him and started counting. He nodded to himself. “This will have to do.”

“What do we do with this?”

“Take it to the docks,” he said. “I’ll be back in a few hours.”

“I’m coming with you,” Jinhyuk insisted, taking the money out of his hands. 

“No, you’re not,” he reached out to take it back.

“What if I have to go by myself one day? What if something happens to you? Why can’t I go instead? You’re not going alone.”

_ “I have to take care of this,”  _ Seungwoo snatched the money back.

Jinhyuk grabbed his hands. “Not by yourself.”

Seungwoo looked down at his hands that were trembling, his blood covered fists gripped tightly around a wad of worn banknotes. He felt sick like he could faint, but he closed his eyes and held it back. Jinhyuk’s hands were warm around his in a way that only humans were, and he realized how long it had been since he had felt that kind of contact. “Let me go.”

“I’m still going,” he said, quietly. Jinhyuk pulled away, his lips in a thin, tight, determined line.

“Fine,” Seungwoo said, tired and (despite what he told himself) in need of his help. “But let me do all of the talking.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading and staying on this crazy ghoul ride with me! I wasn’t going to do this, but I don’t really have any X1/PDX stan friends to fangirl with but I’m on twitter @ seungteefs ❤️


	8. Seungwoo VS The Surgeon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jinhyuk and Seungwoo head to the Docks to find something for Byungchan to eat, but they run into some trouble once they get there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING! This chapter is gory, and if you are easily disturbed by gore and don’t want to read it, but would like to continue with the story, I will leave a brief summary of what happens in the end notes.
> 
> The summary will be a spoiler so don’t skip down if you would like to read the chapter. Thanks!!!

When Jinhyuk and Seungwoo left the apartment, the sun was beginning to set. Their neighborhood glowed an eerie shade of red in stark contrast to the lifeless gray he, Yuvin, and Byungchan had first come home to. Both colors made the hair on the back of his neck stand up in different ways.

Seungwoo, on the other hand, seemed unbothered. He was expressionless from the moment he walked past a resting Byungchan to when they got to the street, red drink cooler in hand. If he had a million things on his mind, he was a master at concealing it.

Jinhyuk turned to go the direction he knew the bus would come.

“Where are you going?” Seungwoo asked.

“To the bus stop?” He said, puzzled. 

Seungwoo pulled out a set of car keys and made them jingle. He pointed them at the broken down, rusted car that probably hadn’t moved from its spot in several decades. It let out a chirp, and Jinhyuk jumped.  _ Are cars that old supposed to beep? Whose car is that?  _ Jinhyuk stared at it, his brows pinched together.

“Are you coming?” Seungwoo said, opening the driver’s side door. Jinhyuk blinked and got in, the passenger door squeaking as he pulled back the handle.

The interior was made of beige, dry rotted leather with orange foam sticking out of rips in the cushions, and he swore he could see the asphalt beneath the car through rusted holes in the floorboard. His knees were pushed to his chest and the top of his head brushed the roof. It was a terrible time to develop claustrophobia. 

Seungwoo put the keys in the ignition and grumbled to himself as the car wouldn’t start, sputtering and squealing instead. “Damn it.”

“Maybe it’s out of fuel,” Jinhyuk suggested, not helping. 

“It doesn’t need it,” Seungwoo muttered. He tried again with a threat that if the car didn’t move, he was going to take away its road privileges. The engine made an odd noise that sounded a lot like a human cough. Seungwoo sighed and turned to Jinhyuk. “I’m going to need you to push.”

“You want me to push the car,” he asked, wide eyed.

“Yes.”

“Okay,” he said, opening his door and unhinging his legs one at a time. “If you think it’ll help.”

As he walked to the back of the car he could hear Seungwoo talking to himself from the inside. He put his hands on the trunk to push.

“Ready!” Jinhyuk called out.

Seungwoo cranked the car up again, and Jinhyuk pushed as the car sputtered.

“Put your back into it!” Seungwoo shouted out the window.

Jinhyuk threw his body against the car almost in a hug, flakes of rust and paint crumbling onto his clothes. The old car purred pleasantly and jumped forward, almost making Jinhyuk tumble to the ground. 

“Yes!” He cheered. He ran around back to the front seat and hopped in before the engine could die out on them. “Can’t believe that worked.”

“It just wanted to be held,” Seungwoo said, moving the stick to drive. 

Jinhyuk blinked. “It what?”

“How’s he doing?” Yuvin asked. 

Seungyoun hadn’t left Byungchan’s side the whole time after the others left to find him someone to eat, unable to make himself move just in case something went wrong. It was his fault that this had happened. He knew that. But to be honest, things from the other side slipped out all the time. It’s not like a whole world of dead angry things could be stopped by  _ an apartment door.  _ All they had to do was  _ turn the handle.  _ And  _ walk  _ (or float or crawl)  _ out.  _ He huffed, annoyed.  _ It’s not my fault. _

Byungchan was unconscious on the couch. It was probably better that way because of the pain, but it wasn’t comforting to watch him sleep like that. He had a troubled expression on his face as if he was dreaming about something horrible. Seungyoun squeezed his hand and hoped the bad dreams would go away.

“He’s still out,” Seungyoun said. “I don’t know what to do for him.”

“ _ You?  _ You always know,” Yuvin said, sitting on the floor. 

“When’s the last time we had a harpy slip out?”

Yuvin thought for a moment. “Never, I guess. I don’t even know what a harpy is.”

“It’s like a bird person,” Seungyoun explained. “I don’t know if that’s what it was, but it looked like a bird person.”

“Yeah, it did. That thing was horrible. One moment we were all standing there, and then all of the sudden...,” Yuvin sighed, stopping himself. “So what are we supposed to do?”

“We wait.”

Jinhyuk didn’t know what he found more surprising: the fact that the old car worked or the fact that Seungwoo knew how to drive. The latter was questionable considering the way the car swung and swerved around, tires screeching against the pavement. The horns from other cars on the road sang a constant tune as they drove to their destination, and Jinhyuk thought if he hadn’t already emptied his stomach out upon seeing the impaled harpy, he would have gotten sick.

Seungwoo was quiet in his own thoughts, but the way he yanked the wheel made Jinhyuk think that he had a lot of stress to relieve.

They had been driving for an hour, and Seungwoo showed no signs of slowing down. One hand was on the wheel, white knuckled, and the other was on the gear shift, jerking it around like he was mad at it. Maybe he was mad at it. Jinhyuk wondered if it would help if he said something to ease the tension or to at least snap Seungwoo out of it.

“So where are we going?” 

“The Docks,” he said plainly. “It’s a small seaport by the sea where you can get  _ things.” _

“Like people,” Jinhyuk said, trying to seem cool with it.

“Well, yeah, no, you can buy people,” Seungwoo said, flustered. “But we’re not going to buy a person, just some of their parts. I do not support nor do I engage in human trafficking.”

“Oh, yeah, I get that,” he said with a cough. “Wait, don’t the organs come from trafficked people?”

Seungwoo looked over and frowned. “You want Byungchan to die?”

“No,” he admitted. 

“Then consider this a gray area.”

Jinhyuk nodded, and Seungwoo focused on the road. People sold their own kidneys during hard times, right? This was fine. There was nothing to feel bad about.

“Listen,” Seungwoo said. “When we get there, you need to stay behind me. Don’t do anything weird and try not to look scared. I’ll take care of everything.”

“Me? Do something weird? Have you me–,” he stopped himself. He shook his head, deciding that it wasn’t the time to go over his list of cursed roommate shenanigans. “I’m not scared.”

Seungwoo snorted. “You’re always scared.”

“I’m not right now,” he said calmly.

Seungwoo’s adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed.  _ Maybe he’s the one who’s scared. _

“What happened?” Seungwoo asked.

“What do you mean?”

“All I saw was you guys fighting that thing off while Byungchan was on the ground.”

“Oh, right,” he took a minute to gather his thoughts. Everything had happened so fast that it was like pieces of his memory were missing. “We were walking home, and then everything got dark the way it is  _ over there _ , and we stopped to listen. I don’t know what we were listening for, but everything was quiet like we were in a vacuum, and then there was a screech, and that bird thing swooped down. We all ducked, but I think the talon snagged Byungchan. Yuvin and I ran, but we saw him on the ground and covered him, and we thought we could scare it off by swinging at it and throwing stuff at it, but I guess we just pissed it off.”

Seungwoo furrowed his brows, deep in thought.

“What?” Jinhyuk blurted out, too curious to wait for him to get around to it. “What is it?”

“It’s nothing. We’re almost there.”

They parked on the side of the street a few blocks away from their destination. Seungwoo’s car beeped as he locked it, but Jinhyuk doubted that anyone would bother trying to stealing it. Even the hubcaps were falling apart.

He followed him a step behind keeping an eye on the shadows. There were more people there than he expected walking around. They were bigger and tougher than them, but Seungwoo could eat them which was probably a bigger power move.

They turned down an unlit alleyway with steam blasting down from cracked pipes, concealing the street on the other side. When they crossed through it, Jinhyuk saw what appeared to be a bazaar or a street market. 

It wasn’t loud or crowded, and the booths were tucked away between stacks of big metal shipping containers that acted as makeshift structures. Rolled up garage style doors revealed groups of shady looking denizens inside, huddled around barrels with the contents set ablaze. The flicker of the orange flames lit them just enough to show some of the people passing small bags of hidden things to each other’s hands.

“Stop staring,” Seungwoo mumbled. 

“I wasn’t,” but Seungwoo was already walking away. 

This place looked like he had imagined the Black Market looked like as a child, but with less shouting about the forbidden wares and more implied purchases. He looked around as he walked through the streets and thought that, there, people could buy anything from weapons, to drugs, to  _ people,  _ but Jinhyuk and his roommate were there for one reason and one reason only. If his parents knew what he was up to, they would be furious.

The pair caught a few suspicious stares from unsavory sorts, but they were the ones who stuck out too much — Jinhyuk and Seungwoo in their soft sweaters, and their light wash denim, washed hair, and running shoes. Next time he would try to look less conspicuous. Maybe a dark hoodie or a mask. 

“It’s over there,” Seungwoo pointed to a cube of shipping containers with a glowing, neon medical cross hanging on the side of one of them.

_ Oh good, some underground doctors. They probably treat poor people and gangsters. This won’t be so bad. _

But it was so bad. When they walked in, the first thing he noticed was someone behind a translucent blood splattered white curtain using some kind of saw. The sound was worse than anything he had ever heard at the dentist — the whirr of metal against skin, the tearing of flesh, the grinding against bone... He shuttered. Seungwoo elbowed him.

A man off to the side with a thick beard and a scar across his left cheek noticed them. He pulled off the thick red rubber gloves that went up to his armpits like the kind worn for chemical spills or the ones veterinarians used revealing two thick, tattooed arms. Jinhyuk had never seen a doctor like this before.

“You’re early,” the man said. The others in the “office” stopped what they were doing to watch.

“I need to make a pick up,” Seungwoo said, his voice calm and steady.

The man hocked and spit off to the side, too close to Seungwoo’s shoe. “Who’s this?”

“He’s cool.”

“He’s not cool with me,” the man said, looking Jinhyuk up and down. “You a cop?”

“No, sir, I’m a barista,” he said, his voice catching in his throat. Seungwoo sighed. The rest of the people in the cube let out a roar of laughter. Even the man behind the curtain came to get a good look at him.

The man that had approached them cracked a smile. Jinhyuk relaxed, but then he took a broad step towards him and grabbed him by the collar. Seungwoo flinched but didn’t stop him. Jinhyuk wasn’t sure what he was more afraid of: demons or burley men with medical saws.

The man pulled Jinhyuk’s shirt up and ran his hands over his body.

“Hey! That tickles!”

He patted down his legs and his inner thighs in places he should have asked first. With no sign of a wire or whatever it was that he was searching for, the man returned his attention to Seungwoo who looked annoyed. Jinhyuk stood there feeling absolutely exposed and violated. 

“He can stay,” the man said.

“Now can we get back to business?” Seungwoo asked.

“Do you have my money?”

Seungwoo handed him a bag with Jinhyuk’s money in it.

“The fuck is this?” His face darkened as he swirled around the loose change and Jinhyuk’s measly salary that sat sadly at the bottom of the sack. 

“I’m short this month, but it’s an emergency.”

“It’s going to be an emergency if you don’t get the fuck out of my shop,” he said, tossing the bag onto the ground, coins bouncing across the concrete.

Seungwoo stepped forward, his face changing from reasonable to the same rage he had when Jinhyuk was lost, mirroring the way Byungchan looked at him when he found him reading the field guide. Jinhyuk took a step back. He knew better.

“We have a deal, and I need those organs,” Seungwoo said.

“All you’re getting off me from that is a bag of toenail clippings and a kiss because you’re pretty.”

The others roared in laughter at Seungwoo’s expense.

“One organ then,” he negotiated, sounding unbothered, but Jinhyuk knew how desperate he was. “Doesn’t matter which one. Doesn’t have to be healthy.”

The man spat again. “I’ve got work to do kid.”

“The body you’ve got behind that curtain. I can smell it, so don’t try to lie about it. I’m sure you don’t need all of it. Who would buy a chunk of leg or an arm muscle? You wanna throw it away and risk someone finding it? Finding this place? Or do you want to sell it to me and save yourself a lot of trouble.”

The mab scoffed. “We can dispose of our own parts. Now get out.”

“Everything you dump in the sea will come back for you,” he said, cold and calculated. “Do you think this city, this country, won’t tear this place apart if some sweet innocent child finds a skull while playing on the beach? I’m doing you a favor.”

The man had his back to him, but he didn’t argue. 

“What do you want with it,” the surgeon from behind the curtain asked, overcome with curiosity.

“It’s my business,” Seungwoo said, staring at the man he negotiated with through his back. “Does it matter?”

“Perhaps,” the surgeon said, pulling off his mask. “What do you need with a cooler full of human flesh that nobody wants?”

Seungwoo turned to him, growing tired of this and running out of time. “I’m going to eat it.”

This time no one laughed. The negotiator dropped a metal tool on the table, and Jinhyuk coughed.  _ Is that a good idea? What are you doing? _

The surgeon raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

“Does it matter?” He asked again. 

The room was quiet, and Jinhyuk was ready to pull him out of there. They still had time to rob a hospital or a few graves. That was easier at night, right?

“What do you say,” the surgeon asked the other man who was keeping Seungwoo from getting what he wanted. “I have a few  _ fat trimmings  _ around back I was going to throw out anyways.”

The negotiator turned around and crossed his arms. “I’m not going to have these two freaks __ undermine me or my business.”

“Then what can I do to show you I’m serious,” Seungwoo asked.

He thought for a moment and smiled. “The good news is, I’m in a good mood tonight.”

_ Is this what you call a good mood? _

“And when I’m in a good mood,” he continued. “I like to play games.”

Seungwoo frowned. “What kind of games?”

_ No, all the ghouls suck at poker! He’ll lose! _

The surgeon smiled and grabbed Jinhyuk by the arm, smearing blood on his sweater. He slung him against a wall, and Jinhyuk let out an oomph. “Move and I’ll saw your fingers off.”

Seungwoo stepped forward, ready to tear the surgeon’s arm off, but the negotiator stopped him. He handed him a knife instead. The surgeon picked up a marker off the table and drew a circle around Jinhyuk’s head.

“If you can hit anywhere in this circle without killing him, I’ll give you the scraps,” the negotiator said. Then he laughed, “But if you kill him, you can have all the parts from him that you want.”

_ “What? _ ” Jinhyuk asked horrified. “This was a bad idea! Let’s just go!”

“I’ve got this,” Seungwoo said through gritted teeth. He looked down at the knife in his hand and weighed it, considering what he should do. 

Jinhyuk knew that ghouls would attack when threatened so it was possible that Seungwoo was going to stick it in the man’s belly and take what he needed out of him. He also knew that Seungwoo was chaotic enough to throw the knife at his head without question. But most of all he knew that Byungchan’s life meant more to him than Jinhyuk’s did. 

Jinhyuk’s eyes closed, a tear slipping out. He started to shake, not ready to die. Not like this.

“Hey,” Seungwoo said. “Don’t do that. Look at me.”

Jinhyuk opened his eyes, and Seungwoo stood in front of him, the knife in the hand by his side. His hair was in his face the way it always was and the corners of his mouth pulled up into a soft smile. Jinhyuk nodded and pressed his head against the wooden crate. They were doing this. There was nothing he could do about it. His lip quivered, and he felt like begging for his life. This wasn’t fair. This wasn’t fair at all.

“Look at me,” he said again, firm. 

Seungwoo raised his arm, and Jinhyuk kept his body as still as possible. He watched him, afraid to lose eye contact even if the tip of the blade pierced him. Every nerve in his body tingled, and he held his breath. Seungwoo pulled his arm back and threw.

The blade zipped through the air and stuck into the wood, shaking back and forth from the force, the cold metal tapping his cheek. Jinhyuk let out the breath and dropped to the floor.

“Wahhhh,” the negotiator said, clapping. “I can’t believe you actually did it.” 

Seungwoo helped Jinhyuk up, his own hands shaking. “Now are we good?”

“Yeah, kid, get out of here,” he blew him off.

“ _ Kid,” _ Seungwoo scoffed.  _ Uh oh.  _ “We had a deal.”

The man laughed. “Did anyone see you sign something? Didn’t think so. Now get out.”

Seungwoo cracked his neck and stretched. Jinhyuk tried to steady himself for a fight, but he couldn’t stop shaking.

“Here,” the surgeon said with a smirk. “Come take what you need from my scraps and leave the money on the table. I’m too tired for this.”

Jinhyuk raised an eyebrow.  _ That was easy _ . (He didn’t realize he was discounting the trauma he just went through).

“Thank you,” Seungwoo said. He followed the man behind the curtain, and Jinhyuk relaxed. Then he heard a crash and a groan in pain. The negotiator laughed. Jinhyuk’s eyes widened.

“Seungwoo!”

“Don’t come back here,” he called back. “I’m fine.”

“What the–,” he heard the surgeon shout. 

“Because I’m in a hurry, I’ll pretend like that didn’t happen, but now I’m going to take what I want,” Seungwoo said from behind the curtain, pulling something out from his waist and dropping it on the ground. Jinhyuk saw the other man back away. He watched Seungwoo pick something big and rigid off of the table and put it to his mouth. His head flicked wildly and the surgeon screamed.

“Holy shit!” He shouted. The surgeon ran terrified, tearing the curtain down from the metal rings. The first thing Jinhyuk saw was the mangled body on the table and wanted to scream, but then he saw Seungwoo holding that body’s arm with a piece missing and blood across his lips which was surprisingly releaving.  _ He didn’t… _

The other men ran for their lives, screaming into the streets. Seungwoo set the arm down and wiped his mouth. 

“Bring me the cooler,” he instructed. “And try not to look.”

“It’s too late,” he said, frowning. “I already saw it.”

He expected the inside of a human body to be red, but it was the white and yellow parts that made his stomach churn. 

“I don’t expect them to call the police,” he said, gesturing to the body. “But they might show up with some friends so we need to hurry.”

Jinhyuk turned his back while Seungwoo cut off all the meat he could stuff in the cooler leaving the organs behind. 

As they left, Seungwoo grabbed the bag of money. “Next time, they’ll be better businessmen.”

The car ride home was silent. 

The taste lingered in his mouth, and it reminded him of the old days before everything came prepackaged and perfectly preserved. He remembered the first time he crawled into the cemetery, desperate and starved with just his hands to dig through the packed mounds of dirt of a fresh burial. 

People were creative back then with a different kind of sentiment. Families would build pillars of rocks over their loved ones that he would have to dismantle one by one to reach the bottom after dark. Then a sliver of his humanity would return, and he would have to put the rocks back so that the person below, then in pieces, could rest undisturbed.

Once people began to lay concrete and marble slabs over graves and cremating their dead, he was almost starved out. He had to use his brains to keep himself alive, but it wasn’t just him anymore. He had to keep the others alive and  _ safe  _ too. The world wasn’t ready for them. They were just a part of someone else’s ghost stories or an anomaly to be studied from a distance like something from a nature channel.

Jinhyuk was shaking next to him. He was terrified and probably scarred for life, but he didn’t run. He knew what they were and could have left whenever he wanted to, but instead he came with him to a horrible place to save Byungchan’s life. Maybe, he thought, some humans were ready.

“Are you hungry,” Seungwoo asked cheerfully, the buzz of feeding running through him.

Jinhyuk’s head rolled over the seat, and he glared at him.

“I take that as a no then,” Seungwoo focused back on the road.  “You know, if there’s ever anything you need. Something I, we, can do to make up for it...”

“It’s fine,” Jinhyuk said. “I’m working again tomorrow so I’ll be late coming home.”

“Oh okay,” he said.

An hour later they were home. Byungchan had woken up and was propped up on the couch against a stack of pillows.

“Hey,” Seungwoo said softly. “How are you feeling?”

“Horrible,” he pouted. “Worst experience of my life.”

“He’s been making us wait on him hand and foot,” Yuvin complained. “Honestly, it’s not even that bad. His wound’s already healing.”

“It is not!” Byungchan said, lifting his shirt. “I’ve been maimed! Gutted! Scavenged!”

Seungwoo smiled and sighed. “We brought you something to make you feel better.”

“Ooh! Let me see!” He bounced and then winced from stretching his wound. “Ah, who stitched me? Frankenstein?”

Seungyoun cleared his throat.

“Oh, it was Frankenstein.”

Seungyoun frowned and made a threatening gesture.

“Stop it, you too,” Seungwoo teased. “Now would you like it raw or cooked.”

“Cooked please!” Byungchan requested. “With lots of sauce. No plants.”

“You will eat whatever I make for you, and that’s that.”

Seeing that everything was okay, and that he was no longer needed. Jinhyuk headed to clean himself off. He pulled off his blood stained sweater and hoped one of the ghouls knew how to make it look like new again because he was running out of clothes to ruin. He still wasn’t ready to go back to get his things.  _ What am I afraid of. _

In the shower he cried. He sat down on the floor under the water in a ball and sobbed, overwhelmed. He knew he was supposed to make himself be okay with all of this, but it was too much. Too many dead things. Too many ghouls. Too many gangsters. Too many bodies. Too much blood. He thought about the way Seungwoo looked at him when he threw the knife and wondered how expendable he was to them. How expendable he had been to everyone… 

“Jinhyuk? Are you okay in there?” Yuvin called through the door.

He wiped his nose. “I’m fine! I’ll be out in a minute!”

He dressed in his pajamas and headed across the hall to his bedroom. 

“Ya!” Byungchan called out from the couch. “What are you doing?”

“I was going to go to bed,” he said.

“Come play with us. I’m bored.”

Before he could protest Byungchan added. “Oh, the pain is unbearable! How long must I suffer on this rigid couch while my unscathed mortal roommate sleeps in his soft bed!”

He threw in a wail for dramatic effect.

“Alright, alright!” He skipped over to the living room. “Just for a little bit.” 

They were playing Mario Kart again which had become a theme for the roommates after traumatic events. He sat in a clear space across the room from Seungwoo, who, if he wasn’t mistaken, was staring at him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jinhyuk takes Seungwoo’s car to the Docks outside of the city by the sea. They come to a market that sells illegal goods and they find a place that sells organs. They don’t have enough money to afford anything and then the owner decides to make Seungwoo throw a knife at Jinhyuk’s head for fun as a trade. He flakes out on his deal and an altercation happens that results in Seungwoo taking a bite out of a dead body to prove a point. They leave with the meat. Byungchan is awake and chatty. Everything is fine but Jinhyuk is traumatized and also really sad because he thinks he doesn’t mean anything to anyone.


	9. Artist’s Choice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jinhyuk gets a visitor at the cafe that he wasn’t expecting. 
> 
> Byungchan is not taking being cooped up in recovery well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m posting a day early because I don’t have self control! I hope yall enjoy the break from me traumatizing poor Jinhyuk 😬

Jinhyuk went to bed before everyone else using that he had work in the morning as an excuse, but really he just needed some time alone. He slept with his back facing the room so that when Yuvin came in, he couldn’t see him. He stared at the shape of the odd green lamp and wondered what it would be like if the only thing weird in his life was the ugly decor, and the next thing he knew, it was morning and he was out before anyone could see him.

On his way to work his stomach growled. He realized he hadn’t eaten since they were at the library which felt like it happened weeks ago, but he hadn’t had an appetite. There were too many reasons for him to not feel like eating, but suddenly his stomach was audibly protesting loud enough for other passengers to hear. He wrapped his sweater over himself to muffle the sound, but he still caught the occasional side eye. 

He still had time before work so he headed into a convenient store for breakfast. He grabbed a basket and placed in half of a sandwich, a boiled egg, and a bottle of yogurt. He figured that those would tide him over until his lunch break without upsetting his stomach. That’s all he needed was for everyone at work to know how stressed he was. And by everyone he meant Dongpyo and Jinwoo who seemed to always be there for some reason like they didn’t have school or outside lives.

Before checking out he thought of his roommates, specifically Byungchan who was injured and doing an excellent job of pretending like he wasn’t hurt at all. He thought he should get him something to make him feel better.  _ You’re supposed to eat ice pops when you’re sick right?  _ He scratched his chin, thinking, and realized he forgot to shave.  _ He probably won’t like those. Meat sticks kind of look like ice pops. Would he like jerky? He likes meat. He likes meat more than any person I’ve ever met in my life… _ He tossed a bag of beef jerky in the basket. He didn’t get anything for anyone else. If they wanted something from the store they were perfectly capable of walking to it themselves, and they had asked enough from him that week.

He sat at a table at the store and ate his breakfast. Somehow convenience store food was more grounding than he would have expected. He felt warm again when he didn’t realize he was cold. He was still tired but no longer terribly exhausted. He felt okay.

“Good morning!” Jinwoo said as he walked into work. The cafe wasn’t open yet, but the two new workers were already there setting things up. 

“You guys are early,” he said. “Wasn’t I supposed to open today?”

“We had some free time,” Dongpyo said, placing a platter of pastries into the display case. “Besides, we thought you would probably be hungover. Overworked part timers always come in hungover after their day off.”

“I’m not hungover,” Jinhyuk defended himself.

“You look hungover,” Jinwoo said.

Jinhyuk frowned.

“We’re just kidding,” Dongpyo said. “Try not to look so serious, boss.”

“I’m not your boss,” Jinhyuk laughed.

“So we  _ don’t  _ have to listen to you,” Dongpyo said.

“That’s not what I said at all!” 

The rest of the morning went as expected. Dongpyo and Jinwoo were doing an excellent job of not listening to him, but the customers were served just the same. He realized that working behind a cash register was a thousand times better than dealing with shady doctors in dark alleys. Making coffee was a thousand times better than fighting off evil bird monsters from the Other Side. But most of all, handling unreasonable complaints from entitled customers was a thousand times better than having knives thrown at his head by the one person he… he shook himself. It wasn’t time to think about that. He scrubbed the table harder, jamming his shoulder into it. It wasn’t time to think of the glint in Seungwoo’s eye like there was nothing to be afraid of. There was a lot to be afraid of. Everything was horrible and terrifying and–

“Jinhyuk?” A hand tapped him on the shoulder. He jumped and spun around ready to blind whomever the hand belonged to with his cleaning rag. 

“Wooseok,” he said, his voice catching in his throat. Wooseok eyed the rag he was holding up defensively in the air, and Jinhyuk lowered his hand, embarrassed. “What are you doing here?”

“I came by to see you the other day, but they said you were out,” he said, smiling in an innocent way like he didn’t know that Jinhyuk didn’t want him there. He knew.

“Why? You’ve never bothered to visit me at work before.”

Wooseok frowned. “Don’t be like that. You know I was really busy.”

“Not  _ that _ busy,” Jinhyuk mumbled. “Well, now you saw me, so I don’t want to keep you from being super busy and important.”

“Wait,” he said, grabbing his arm before he could run off and hide behind the counter. “Can’t we just talk for a minute?”

“The cafe is actually busy right now, and I’m clearly needed.”

Wooseok looked around at the two customers who had already been served and were enjoying the free wifi and raised his eyebrow. “I think they can handle it.”

He sat down at the table Jinhyuk was cleaning and folded his hands on top. “I am a customer. I would like a coffee please.”

“We don’t provide table service,” Jinhyuk said.

Wooseok sucked his teeth. “I can sit here all day you know.”

Jinhyuk sighed. “One coffee coming right up.”

“Cream and sugar please,” he smiled.

“I remember.”

Jinhyuk took his sweet time making Wooseok’s coffee. In fact, he felt like the coffee machine needed to be cleaned out first. Wooseok wouldn’t mind waiting. And the cream needed to be switched out with a fresh batch. He could wait for that. The sugar was probably stale. He could wait. And all of the mugs needed to be rewashed just in case. He looked over hoping Wooseok would have left already, but he was on his phone probably enjoying the free wifi looking quite unbothered. He was probably texting someone else. Jinhyuk knew exactly who it was.

“Here’s your coffee, sir,” he said, setting down the mug and turning to dart away. 

“Wait,” Wooseok said. “Sit.”

“Do you have any idea the bullshit I’ve had to put up with over the last couple of days? Do you think you or any human on this earth has the right to boss me around?” He hissed.

Wooseok sat back surprised. “Wow, okay, I’m sorry. Would you please sit with me a moment so we can talk, and then I’ll leave. I promise.”

Jinhyuk immediately regretted blowing up on him. Sure he  _ deserved  _ some of it, but it wasn’t his fault that the rest of it happened. He sat down, compliant, to ease his own conscience. “Just for a minute.”

“I tried calling you… you didn’t have to walk out like that,” Wooseok says sincerely. “You could have stayed with us for a few weeks until you found a place.”

_ Us.  _

Wooseok added, “ _ Are _ you staying somewhere?”

Jinhyuk nodded looking down at his hands. “I’ve found an apartment. I have a few roommates, but the rent is cheap.”

“Oh!” Wooseok smiled brightly, his own conscience cleared so easily. “I’m so glad you aren’t living on the streets! So, tell me about the people you’re living with.”

“I don’t know if I’d call them people…” he looked off to the side, tilting his head, but Wooseok didn’t seem to notice. “Well, one is into...  _ architecture.  _ One’s a, um, scientist _.  _ There’s one who’s really into, uh, artisan butchery. And the other owns the building.”

“Wow, that’s really cool they all seem so interesting! Do you think the artisan butcher could get me a deal on some expensive meat?”

Jinhyuk winced, flashing back to their biweekly barbecues.  _ “I don’t think so.” _

Wooseok frowned taking it personally, but Jinhyuk was  _ really  _ doing him a favor. 

“Well, what about the building owner,” he changed the subject. “Isn’t it weird that he lives with you?”

“No, that’s not weird at all,” Jinhyuk said, defensive. “He’s great. He’s tidy. He’s considerate. He’s a good cook. He’s brave. He’s–.”

“Handsome?” Wooseok smirked. “Come on, you don’t have to lie to me. I know you, and the only person you’ve ever talked about like that was me.”

“No, it’s not like that,” he said, frustrated. “I just admire him, I guess, and if you want to have a nice chat try not bring up our relationship please. I’m trying to be friendly.”

“Fine,” Wooseok waved his hand. “I’m just saying, I know what I see.”

“Well, you came, you saw,” Jinhyuk stood up. “I have to get back to work. Thanks for your patronage. I’ll be around to get my stuff when I feel like it.”

“Wait,” Wooseok put his hand on his. “One more thing. My art opening is tomorrow night, and I really want you to be there. You promised you’d support me if it ever happened. Bring someone, if you’d like. All of our friends will be there.”

Jinhyuk sighed.  _ Promises.  _ Before he could say no, Wooseok placed the invitation on the table and left. Jinhyuk picked up Wooseok’s half empty mug and considered pouring it out on the cardstock to smear the ink telling him where to be and when to be there. He frowned and drank it himself. A customer eyed him, disgusted, but it’s not like he’d never drank after him before.

The rest of the day went well considering. They were busy at times, and then at others, they weren’t. Dongpyo and Jinwoo could have run the place by themselves which did not bode well for him at all. Somehow the idle tasks made him forget about what he was stressed about, and he managed to made it to the end of his shift without once accidentally blowing up on a customer.

He looked up at his apartment. It was still creepy and menacing, but he wasn’t afraid of it anymore. He thought about the day he moved in and how he couldn’t get the door open and how the bizarre interior made him feel like it was haunted. It was haunted, but that’s not the point.

He climbed the stairs, still wary of the elevator that Seungwoo refused to have inspected, but his feet no longer slipped through the cracks. As hard as it was to believe, he was getting used to his new home.

He opened the door to be greeted first by Byungchan. He was propped up on the couch with a blanket wrapped around him constraining his arms.

“Did Seungyoun do this?” He laughed.

“Yes! I’m being restrained! You need to let me out immediately!” Byungchan whisper–shouted.

“No!” Seungyoun cried out, running out from his room waving his arms. “Don’t free him! He’s been an absolute pain in the ass all day! He’s gone feral!”

“I have not!” Byungchan shouted while trying to wiggle himself free. “I’m. So. Lucid. I could. Recite. Poe. Try.”

He let out an an aggravated sigh after having no luck freeing his arms.

Seungyoun folded his arms across his chest. “You’re staying like that until we can trust you again.”

“What did he do?” Jinhyuk asked, concerned.

“Nothing!” Byungchan shouted.

“You don’t want to know,” Seungyoun sighed. 

Jinhyuk looked at Byungchan in horror, but he maintained his innocence. “Can you at least scratch my nose for me? I can’t reach it without THE USE OF MY ARMS.”

“I wouldn’t get too close,” Seungyoun warned. 

Byungchan stuck his tongue out. 

Jinhyuk considered that Byungchan was probably not dangerous at all in his current condition. Seungyoun’s body burritos were world class. He reached down to rub the back of his hand against Byungchan’s nose, but Byungchan returned the favor by snapping at his fingers.

“Hey!” Jinhyuk shouted, snatching his hand away to safety. “Ow!”

“I tried to warn you,” Seungyoun said, having a seat at the kitchen island. “Here use this if he tries to bite you again.”

Seungyoun handed Jinhyuk a rolled up newspaper to defend himself with.

“No, please, I didn’t mean it,” Byungchan pleaded. “Please let me out I promise it won’t happen again.”

“Absolutely not,” Jinhyuk said, waving the newspaper roll at him.

“It’s for your own good,” Seungyoun chided Byungchan who returned the sentiment with a pout.

Jinhyuk propped his arm on Seungyoun’s shoulder and shook his head. “And to think I bought you a present today.”

“A present?” Byungchan said, surprised. “For me?”

“Mhm,” he said. “But then you bit my fingers.”

“I didn’t mean to I promise please let me have my present,” he tried to wiggle himself free again. 

“I don’t know…”

“ _ Pleeeease?”  _ He said mighty cutely for someone who was most definitely feral.

Jinhyuk leaned over to whisper to Seungyoun. “Do you have any idea how I can protect my hands?”

The first step was to protect his arms, and he couldn’t risk ruining his work uniform so Seungyoun let him borrow a thick sweatshirt. The second step was to tape oven mitts to his hands so when he reached close to Byungchan’s face, he wouldn’t lose a finger. 

“One problem,” Jinhyuk said, holding up both of his mitted hands. “I can’t get the bag open.”

Seungyoun cut the top with scissors for him, and Byungchan’s snack was ready.

“What is it?” He asked, deceptively calm.

“It’s beef jerky,” Jinhyuk explained. “It’s like dried meat or candy for meat lovers I guess. You can chew on it. I thought it might make you feel better.”

“Huh,” Byungchan said sounding underwhelmed, but his eyes sparkled. 

“Alright,” Jinhyuk shook out a piece into his mitt. “If you snap at me, I’m going to give the whole bag to Seungyoun.”

Byungchan huffed.

“I mean it,” he warned.

“Alright, I won’t bite you this time,” he said. 

Jinhyuk passed the first piece to him without any incident. 

“Mmm!” Byungchan declared. His eyes wide. “This is good!”

He chewed on the first piece for a while before requesting another. Jinhyuk passed it to him carefully with his oven mitt.

“Could we make this? This dried meat with our meat?” Byungchan looked at Seungyoun. Seungyoun grabbed the bag and examined it. 

“I don’t see why not,” Seungyoun said as he removed a piece from the bag for himself to sample. “Mmm! This  _ is  _ good!”

Jinhyuk bounced, pleased that they liked it. He took a piece out for himself, and Byungchan protested, clearly starving to death.

“Hey guys!” Seungyoun shouted out. “Come try this stuff Jinhyuk brought home for the little demon!”

Seungwoo and Yuvin came out from their rooms. The first thing Jinhyuk noticed was how exhausted Seungwoo looked as if he had been up all night. The second thing he noticed was that Yuvin’s hand was bandaged, and he was glaring at the back of Byungchan’s head from a safe difference.

“I can feel that,” Byungchan said.

“I know,” Yuvin said, frowning.

“I told you it was an accident!” Byungchan said, trying to turn around. “Come over here so I can see you.”

“I’m good,” Yuvin said.

“He can’t get out,” Seungyoun said with a mouthful of Byungchan’s jerky. “You’re safe. Come taste this dried meat.”

Seungwoo was chewing on a piece quietly without input, and, not that Jinhyuk was looking, he seemed to be deep in thought and distant. Almost participating but not really. Yuvin joined them with a wide berth around the couch. He was quite thrilled with the jerky.

Byungchan cleared his throat, and Jinhyuk fed him another piece. As long as he chewed on the jerky he was less likely to chew on his roommates which was a win for everyone.

Soon everyone was discussing how they could make these snacks for themselves with Jinhyuk at the helm since he was the only one with a cell phone. 

“It looks like we need a dehydrator, but we could probably do it in the oven at a low temperature,” he said, looking at the instructions on his phone. “It says here you can flavor it however you want.”

Several suggestions were made regarding the flavor of their special jerky, and before they knew it, the bag was empty and it was dinner time, but no one was particularly hungry. Jinhyuk took advantage of the free moment to sneak off to his room for some alone time. 

He changed into more comfortable clothes and sat on his bed. He pulled out the invitation and stared at it, memorizing all of the words and the little designs.

_ So Wooseok did it. He finally got his own art showcase.  _ It was bittersweet. He was honestly proud to see that his hard work had finally paid off, but he was experiencing his dream without him. It used to be just the two of them against the world, and then Wooseok was suddenly never home. He practically lived in his studio which was fine because he needed to devote all of his time to his work, except he wasn’t spending that time alone. Jinhyuk knew. Wooseok was a terrible liar, but he loved him too much to confront him about it until finally it caught up with them. 

“Hey,” Yuvin said, entering their shared space. “You okay? You disappeared.”

“Yeah, I’ve just got a lot on my mind,” he forced a smile. “I’ll be fine.”

“Yeah, no kidding. We’re all really worried about you. We normally never have this many problems with the door, and Seungwoo told us about what happened last night.”

“He did?” Jinhyuk felt a pang of embarrassment. They must have thought he was a coward.

Yuvin plopped down onto his bed.

“That was so badass,” Yuvin said, smiling. “I mean, Seungwoo would have gone alone because he thinks he has to, but you stuck your neck out for us. A human. For us. And then he said if you hadn’t been there to keep them distracted, he would have probably gotten really hurt. We’re strong, but we’re not invincible.”

“Is that what he said?” Jinhyuk remembered it differently, but then he thought about Seungwoo’s smile before he threw the knife.

“And you fought off that harpy thing for Byungchan! You didn’t scream and run away, you just started pelting garbage at it!”

Jinhyuk smiled to himself and idly folded the invitation up. Maybe he was doing better than he thought.

“What’s this?” Yuvin took the invitation from his hands.

“Ah, it’s an art thing someone I know is having,” he said, avoiding giving as many details as possible.

“Are you going?”

“I’m not sure yet.”

“Are you close?”

Jinhyuk looked away. “We used to be.”

“Ahhh,” Yuvin said, understanding. “It’s tomorrow?”

“Mhm.”

“What happens if you don’t go?”

“I’ll be mad at myself.”

“What happens if you do?” He asked.

“I’ll be mad at myself,” Jinhyuk laughed. “I need to. All of my friends will be there, and I feel like if I don’t go, it’s going to look like he won.”

“You have friends?” Yuvin flashed a cheeky smile.

Jinhyuk smacked him playfully. “Yes, thank you, several, actually.”

They sat for a while quietly, and Jinhyuk continued. “I have to go. I need to show everyone I don’t care about what happened. I’m just annoyed that he told me to take someone as if that’s an easy thing to do. I’m not like him. I didn’t have someone on the side or a line of people waiting to be asked to go to art galleries.”

Yuvin scratched his cheek with his undamaged hand. “So go anyway. It sounds like he doesn’t think you’ll show up, so if you don’t you’ll be the only one who feels bad about it.”

“Damn, you’re right,” Jinhyuk said. “Have you always been this smart?

Yuvin grins. “Of everyone in the house I have had the least amount of brain rot.”

Jinhyuk changed into his gallery–friendly clothes at work. The location was closer to his job than home, and he wanted to get it over with as soon as possible. He took the bus to the nearest stop and walked the rest of the way, giving himself time to talk himself through his nerves. 

Wooseok would be there, and as annoying as his visit was, it gave Jinhyuk a chance to see him first and assess his emotional capacity to handle seeing his ex. Yohan would be there, but even though it was entirely his fault, Jinhyuk knew he would be too busy telling Wooseok how talented he is to cause him any stress. If Sejin and Hangyul were there, he could stomach it. All he had to do was greet Wooseok, compliment a painting, eat some cheese, and then sneak out to go home and maybe pick up more jerky. He smiled to himself. The roommates were so happy to have a snack. That was something the field guide was missing. Ghouls love presents.

He found the location of the gallery at the address on the invitation. Wooseok’s event was on the eighth floor so he took the elevator up. His reflection in the bronze plated panel stared back at him, and he was glad he remembered to shave and do something with his hair.  _ Smile. We’ve got this.  _ With a ding, there was no turning back.

The gallery was packed because of course it was. Wooseok had a lot of friends, and most of the guests were people Jinhyuk recognized. The first to recognize  _ him  _ was Sunho. He came up to him and immediately greeted him with a warm hug, and Jinhyuk realized, oddly, it had been a long time since anyone hugged him.

“Jinhyuk!” He said, a little too loudly. “I can’t believe you came!”

“Yeah,” he laughed. “Me neither. How have you been?”

“I got promoted at the office,” he said, proud. “What about you? Are you still working at the cafe?”

“Mhm, it’s great. You should stop by sometime. I’ll buy you a coffee.”

“You’re on,” Sunho said. “Listen, I’ve gotta say hi to some people, but it was good to see you.”

“It was good to see you too.”

His nerves relaxed after seeing Sunho. He took a chance to look around the room. Every wall was covered with a different painting of a man in different poses. A man that wasn’t him. A man that was supposed to be just a model. He sighed. There was no point in getting upset there.

“You actually came,” Wooseok swooped in smelling like too much cologne and something minty. He held a glass of wine, and his cheeks were flushed. He only drank wine when he was nervous.

“I wanted to see what you had been up to in your studio all that time,” Jinhyuk looked around. “Incredible.”

“Thank you,” Wooseok said. If he caught Jinhyuk’s meaning, he was good at pretending like he hadn’t.

“Is Yohan here?”

“He should he somewhere nearby,” Wooseok looked around. “Honey?”

Jinhyuk flinched.

Yohan appeared and shook Jinhyuk’s hand. “It really means a lot that you came. You being like Wooseok’s brother and all.”

Jinhyuk smiled, quite confused. “Is that how he put it?”

“Yes,” Wooseok said. “Practically family.”

Jinhyuk’s stomach churned. Yohan had no idea. What an elaborate lie Wooseok had told, and yet he had the balls to invite the only person there who could dismantle everything…

“I see you came alone,” Wooseok said, probably to sting him. “That’s a shame.”

“Ah, yeah, well you see–.” Jinhyuk started.

“Sorry I’m late!” An arm went around Jinhyuk’s waist and a pair of warm lips pecked him on the cheek. “There was traffic on the way. Hi, I’m Seungwoo. You must be Jinhyuk’s artist friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had this chapter planned out way before the elimination round (it was supposed to be chapter 2) so there’s nothing underlying about Wooseok and Jinhyuk being separated it was just a choice I stuck with and please understand I adore Wooseok and Yohan ajfjjsdbhd
> 
> twitter is @seungteefs if you want to be friends


	10. Jinhyuk’s First Birthday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seungwoo saves the day, and Jinhyuk learns if the roommates really think he’s disposable.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> early update~ 
> 
> maybe twice a week is a good thing?

Jinhyuk’s whole body tensed. 

Seungwoo, who had managed to appear out of thin air with the most dramatic entrance he had ever seen, was shaking hands with and greeting Wooseok and Yohan as if he couldn’t have been more excited to  _ finally  _ meet them. Except that Jinhyuk had never once mentioned neither Wooseok nor Yohan to him at any point since he moved in. 

Seungwoo hadn’t removed his arm yet from around Jinhyuk’s waist, and he was starting to squirm against it like it was definitely not supposed to be there but Seungwoo’s grip was firm. It was almost like he was being held in place even though every nerve in his body wanted him to go hide behind the chocolate fountain for the rest of the night. He forgot how strong ghouls were supposed to be.

“Thank you for inviting us,” Seungwoo said to Wooseok who was doing a terrible job of looking okay with this at all to Jinhyuk’s satisfaction. He wondered if he really had offered for him to bring someone just to prove that he couldn’t.  _ Surprise, Wooseok, my roommates are more unpredictable than you are.  _ “We love going to events. It gets us out of the house.”

He squeezed Jinhyuk and wrinkled his nose for effect implying that they did anything inside the apartment together other than occasionally share a meal. Wooseok laughed uncomfortable, a twinge of jealousy creasing his mouth. “Jinhyuk, you didn’t tell me–.”

“That he was so close to someone?” Seungwoo interrupted innocently. “How did you put it earlier…. like  _ brothers _ ? Was it? Practically like  _ family _ ?”

Yohan eyed Wooseok who paled at the remark, but Jinhyuk couldn’t hide the amusement on his face watching the elaborate lie completely fall apart in the middle of an art gallery in a matter of seconds. It was poetic, really.

“Well, we’ve got a few more people to say ‘hi’ to, so help yourselves to whatever you want,” Wooseok said, bowing and leaving. Yohan muttered something to him that didn’t sound happy as they walked away.

Jinhyuk let out a breath in relief, and Seungwoo let go. 

“Well that was fun,” Seungwoo said, brushing himself. 

“What are you doing here?” Jinhyuk whispered. Not that he wasn’t grateful but…

“Saving your ass,” he whispered back. “You’re lucky I got here when I did because they were walking all over you.”

“ _ I had it.” _

_ “Please.” _

He frowned and rubbed his cheek. “Did you have to kiss me?”

Seungwoo bounced. “That’s what they do in the dramas.”

Jinhyuk sighed, defeated by how proud of himself he was even if it meant that he would have to explain this new fraudulent public relationship to about a hundred people later. “Thank you.”

They wandered off to the buffet table where there were less people around to hear them talk, and each took a different crystalline glass filled with watermelon punch to blend in, but Jinhyuk felt like every single eye in the room was on the two of them. 

“How did you know?” He asked.

“Yuvin told us, and we all decided that we had to do something to help,” Seungwoo explained simply.

“And that’s why you came?”

“We drew straws,” Seungwoo smiled brightly, and then his expression changed to something curious. “Actually, Byungchan won…”

Jinhyuk’s eyes widened in horror as he pictured his most unstable roommate biting someone’s finger off in the middle of a crowd. “Oh no...”

“Exactly,” he said, nodding. “So, then we took a vote. Byungchan obviously can’t leave the house until he’s better. Seungyoun has to watch him to make sure he doesn’t escape. That left Yuvin and me, and I got the most votes.”

“I’m really glad you came,” he said, embarrassed . “Not that I wouldn’t want the others here, but you’re just–.”

“The most normal?” Seungwoo said. “I’ve had a lot of practice.”

“That’s not what I meant–,” Jinhyuk started, but before he could explain himself, they were greeted by some more of Jinhyuk’s old friends.

“Jinhyuk!” Sihoon said. He was with Eunsang. The two of them were two of Wooseok’s best art students, and of course they were there to support him. “Where have you been!”

Jinhyuk laughed nervously. “Working mostly.”

“I can’t believe you came,” Eunsang said. “I wouldn’t have.”

Sihoon elbowed him.

“It’s fine! We’re still friends! I just wanted to show my support for his work.”

“It’s amazing, isn’t it,” Sihoon said, admiring the paintings. “It must have taken years to paint the same guy over and over again.”

“Yep,” Jinhyuk’s voice cracked.  _ Years. _

“We were just about to go look at the paintings on the other side, if you wanted to join us,” Seungwoo said. 

Jinhyuk could feel the aura spreading from him like a nauseating cloud of smoke, and he smiled to himself. He remembered how once not too long ago that feeling would have horrified him or brought him to his knees, but now it was acting like a shield. “Yeah, you guys can join us.”

“Actually, I need to go sit down,” Sihoon said, rubbing his head. “I think I ate too much sugar.”

“Maybe it’s the gluten,” Jinhyuk offered, knowing damn well what his roommate was doing. 

“Yeah, maybe.” Sihoon and Eunsang left, and the other guests around them also gave Seungwoo and Jinhyuk plenty of space even though the “shield” wasn’t exactly meant for them too.

“That was _ so  _ cool _ ,”  _ Jinhyuk mumbled. 

Seungwoo chuckled to himself. “Hell yeah, it was.”

“How did you...”

“I’m  _ spooky,”  _ he smirked and finished his sparkling watermelon drink that somehow made whoever drank it more thirsty.

Jinhyuk couldn’t help but laugh. So that interaction pretty much summed up their whole night. Any time someone brought up a hurtful or forbidden topic such as how brave Jinhyuk was for showing up or how Wooseok managed to paint Yohan a hundred different ways alone in his studio, Seungwoo chased them off until Jinhyuk settled into a sense of security and was no longer worried about what other people thought of him being there. That was another thing that the field guide left out. Ghouls made the best bodyguards.

All that was left was the art, and Jinhyuk wasn’t going to get any closure until he looked at it with more than a passing glance. Wooseok was undoubtedly talented by the way he captured everything from Yohan’s cheekbones down to the shape of his veins in his hands. Jinhyuk had never gone to the studio before because it felt too private and too personal, but now it was out in the open for everyone to see.

“None of these are me,” he said to himself sadly, not realizing he had thought out loud. 

“That one is,” Seungwoo pointed to a single painting. It was red and blue and the strokes were barely a person. It was one of Wooseok’s earlier works before he cared about shapes and skin tones, and it was shoved in the corner for less people to see like they needed to fill the wall space.

“I don’t think so,” he laughed, shy and slightly exposed. “It couldn’t be.”

“It’s a painting of a person with too much going on at once to be captured by a brush. None of the other paintings look like this one. The other pieces are calm and controlled, but it almost looks like the artist was scared of this subject. It looks like something he was never able to come back to, and that’s why it’s the only one.”

Jinhyuk swallowed. It was different, but there was no way it was him. Everything else was so strikingly Yohan, that this one painting had to have been an abstract experiment before he found a model to work with so he could create what he really wanted. Maybe it was the reason he needed someone else in the first place.

“I like it,” Seungwoo said. “Let’s take it home and put it in the apartment next to the TV.”

Jinhyuk snorted. “I can’t afford this.”

“Who said we’re going to pay for it?”

For some reason, Jinhyuk thought he was supposed to take the bus home which didn’t make sense to Seungwoo at all since he drove all the way to the gallery and they lived at the same place. It was so late that the odds of him finding a bus that still ran to the outlier of their neighbor was downright impossible. 

But he wasn’t just politely declining to avoid being rude. In fact, Jinhyuk was doing everything he could to specifically  _ not _ get into Seungwoo’s car, and he was starting to take it personally.

“Get in,” Seungwoo pleaded, hitting the unlock button on his keys with a chirp. 

Jinhyuk stood with his arms crossed like he was cold on the sidewalk several steps away. “I don’t want to.”

“Please, it’s late, and I’m faster than the bus.”

“You’re  _ too  _ fast,” Jinhyuk chided. “And I’m not getting in there.”

“Why not?” Seungwoo frowned.

“Because last time I rode in your car, you made me touch its butt, and it purred at me, and the more I think about it, nothing about that seems right.”

“That was  _ one time,  _ and I talked to it about that!”

“It’s a car!” Jinhyuk shouted. “You shouldn’t have to talk to it!”

“If that’s what bothers you, then you should probably avoid the coffee pot, the showerhead, and the call box.”

“That’s not what bothers me. Your car is  _ touch starved.” _

The lights on the car shut off, and Seungwoo sighed and glared at him, pointing at his car that had been clearly offended. Jinhyuk’s arms dropped. 

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it,” Jinhyuk said to the car.

Jinhyuk walked around to the passenger side to get in for a proper apology, but the door was locked. He looked at Seungwoo and frowned.

“Don’t look at me,” he said. “I’m not the one who called it touch starved.”

“May I please ride home with you, Seungwoo’s car?”

Seungwoo watched as he tried the handle again several times between apologies. 

“Great, now neither of us can get home,” Seungwoo said, pouting.

“We could take the bus…”

“And just leave it here? All night? By itself?” He asked, appalled. “I wouldn’t leave  _ you _ here!”

The car chirped.

“We  _ cannot, _ ” Seungwoo said. He sighed and sat on the hood. He patted the space next to him for Jinhyuk to sit.

“Will it run us over?” He whispered. 

“No, it just needs a minute to cool off.”

“I’m sorry,” Jinhyuk mumbled. 

Seungwoo sighed. “I forgot you weren’t used to riding in cars.”

“That’s not… you know what, yes, that’s it.”

Seungwoo laughed to himself. Jinhyuk was really making an effort to adjust to life with the ghouls even if at times he failed miserably. Even after reading a field guide that was supposed to know everything.

“Thank you, again,” Jinhyuk said. “For helping.”

“It’s the least I, we, could do for all that you’ve done for us,” Seungwoo said. 

“I wouldn’t say that. I made a mess of the whole situation.”

“It was a situation I put you in without thinking about what it could have done to you,” he said. “Byungchan is my family. He’s my best friend, and we’ve been together for the longest time out of everybody, and when I thought that I might lose him, I got tunnel vision. I was stupid and careless, and if you hadn’t been there…”

Seungwoo let out a pained sigh.

“I wasn’t going to let anything happen to you, you know,” he continued. Jinhyuk nodded, but Seungwoo could see that he didn’t believe him. “I let it get that far because they thought that we were a couple of kids playing God with some body parts. As long as they thought they were bullying us, no one was going to get hurt. The reason I let them put you on that wall even though it made me so angry I could have ripped both of their hearts out and eaten them before they hit the floor was because I knew I couldn’t miss.”

“Anyone can miss,” Jinhyuk said. “But it’s fine.”

“No, it’s not fine, and I can’t miss,” he said. “Supernatural luck. It’s like you die and suddenly you’re good at everything. That’s why ghosts are so damn clever.”

“You suck at poker,” Jinhyuk pointed out.

“That has nothing to do with luck. It’s about counting cards, and none of us know how to do math.”

Jinhyuk snorted. “I’ll teach you how to do math and play poker then.”

The car warmed beneath them, and Seungwoo figured it would finally let them get in. He gestured to Jinhyuk to go to the passenger side. Seungwoo’s door opened without a hitch, and with some jiggling, Jinhyuk’s opened too.

It was dark out, and the traffic wasn’t as bad as it was earlier in the afternoon. As a courtesy, Seungwoo drove at a friendlier speed this time, but mostly it’s because he still had a lot he needed to say and a lot to apologize for, and he didn’t want to run out of time.

They rode quietly while he gathered his thoughts. The radio didn’t work, and the only sound was from the tires on the road below which was fine with him. Jinhyuk was busy staring out of the window. Maybe that’s what it was like to ride a bus all the time. People just stared out of windows until they finally came to where they needed to be.

“Byungchan and the others are my family,” Seungwoo started, needing to let it out while he still could. “I would burn the whole world down to keep them safe.”

Jinhyuk nodded, understanding.

“But you’re my family now too,” he said, earning a surprised look out of the corner of his eye as he drove. “I’m not going to let anything happen to you while you’re living with us. But if you want, for all you’ve done and been through, I’ll rip up the contract when we get home, and we’ll pretend like it never happened.”

Jinhyuk was silent. Seungwoo wanted to ask if he had heard him, but his lips were stuck together. 

“I want to stay,” he said quietly. “If that’s okay, but I don’t think I’ve done anything really that important.”

Seungwoo laughed. “Even after reading that stupid book, you still treat us like we’re people which is enough to earn a little respect. But then you occasionally risk your life for us, even when you don’t know you do which earned our trust. No human does that, and we talked about how nice it is to have you around. You’re our family now.”

That was the end of that. Jinhyuk chose not to move out, and Seungwoo was able to tell him that he was special to him and the others. He was the only humam capable of living with and protecting a group of ghouls at the edge of the living world, and yet he was worried about some dumb ex boyfriend thinking he was lonely. Humans were so strange. Seungwoo was convinced that if Jinhyuk had to choose between staring death in the face and suffering from a social embarrassment, he would run straight to the Other Side.

“Can I ask you something?”

Seungwoo blinked, startled by the sound of his voice. “Sure.”

“You said Byungchan’s been around the longest. How long  _ is  _ that?”

“Hmm,” he thought for a moment, struggling to remember. “Let’s see. I’m going to say that I met Byungchan about a thousand years ago or so. He was dressed like a shaman, and he was running around terrorizing a village after succumbing to brain rot from not eating for too long. I was able to get him back after a few weeks of nursing him back to life, but he’s always been a little  _ feral.” _

“Is that what’s happening now?” He asked, concern in his voice.

“No, he’s just bored,” Seungwoo said. “He gets cabin fever if he’s cooped up for too long.”

“Oh, what about the others?”

“We found Seungyoun a few hundred years later. He was reclusive and didn’t want to join us at first. He said he didn’t need us, but one day he got caught. He was hunting for food at cemetery before a mass burial. The village had been hit pretty bad by plague, and it was a ghoul’s gold mine, but some villagers saw him picking through the bodies while they were mourning. We were nearby keeping an eye on him when it happened, but there was nothing we could do, there were too many of them. They captured him and dragged him away like he was a rabid animal. Byungchan was especially traumatized and wanted to go after him, but I wouldn’t let him go. He said he would never forgive me if we didn’t save him.

“So, we followed them from a safe distance. They had him in a bamboo cage too small for a person to fit, but we weren’t really people to them, I guess. They were going to burn him.”

“What did you do?”

“We killed everyone there and got him out.”

“He must have been grateful.”

Seungwoo let out a weak laugh. “No. No, he wasn’t. He was pretty pissed, actually. He said we should have just let them kill him. Put him out of his misery I guess.”

The car was quiet again. Seungwoo was at a redlight, and it was raining. It hadn’t been raining back then. It had been the middle of a long drought. 

Seungyoun had been trapped, and they were going to _ purge the evil spirit _ with fire. They thought that would have kept their children from dying. Like that was how plagues and diseases worked. Superstition, he had learned, was the most dangerous force in the world. It was as infectious and incurable as a disease, and it was as unforgiving as death. 

Superstition was replaced with science as humanity changed and adapted to their own needs. If something couldn’t be scientifically explained, then it wasn’t real. That meant that all anomalies had to be studied and documented thoroughly. Both ideologies rejected him and his family. They weren’t something to be loved but to be exterminated.

“I’m sorry,” Jinhyuk said as if he could see the thousand years of pain on Seungwoo’s face that he had spent so long learning how to mask. “That you’ve had to live like that for so long. It’s not your fault if your diet is different. You’re good people. You’re kind people. You’re smart people. You’re just a little unorthodox.”

Seungwoo laughed at that and was able to continue to the last roommate. “And Yuvin came to us a couple of years ago. He still has a hard time adjusting to our lifestyle, but he fits in well with the outside world. A ghoul of his time.”

“So you just collect lost ghouls?” Jinhyuk teased.

“Among other things.”

They were home, and Jinhyuk was glad he didn’t take the bus. He needed to hear what Seungwoo had to say, and Seungwoo needed a chance to say it. He probably never got to talk to anyone other than the other three, and after at least a thousand years, it must have been lonely. So there was another thing the field guide didn’t cover, and that was that field guides were stupid. His roommates were not birds or wild mushrooms, they were people. They were good, thoughtful people who took care of each other, didn’t hurt anyone they didn’t have to, and made Jinhyuk’s ex look like a fool in public. 

They walked up the stairs together, and Jinhyuk thought it was nice like they were starting to become friends. He would like to be friends with someone like Seungwoo. He wanted to be friends with all of them, maybe for the rest of his life.

“Wait,” Seungwoo said at the door. “Before we go in, I have to announce that phase one of Operation Make Jinhyuk Feel Better is complete.”

Jinhyuk felt embarrassed for some reason, but he waited for an explanation.

“Once you open this door, we’re on to phase two and you’re not allowed to be sad at all. Got it?”

Jinhyuk laughed. “Got it.”

Jinhyuk opened the door to three costumed roommates with party noise makers, decorations, and a ton of food. Seungyoun was in a clown wig and makeup, Yuvin was dressed in a puppy costume with face paint and floppy ears, and Byungchan was on the couch in his blanket burrito with a party hat, a feather boa around his neck and neon green sunglasses. He spat out the toy for their greeting.

“Happy birthday!” The four shouted.

Jinhyuk covered his cheeks with his hands, but he couldn’t stop smiling. “But, guys, it’s not my birthday.”

Seungwoo traded his fancy fake-date blazer for a gold sequined jacket with a snap on bow tie and a top hat. “We’ve decided that since today is your first official day as a member of our family, today is now your birthday.”

Jinhyuk picked up a noise maker and blew shyly earning a cheer. 

“Sorry we were late,” Seungwoo said. “The car wouldn’t start. Jinhyuk was mean to it.”

Jinhyuk gaped at him, ready to protest.

“That’s okay, we started without you,” Seungyoun said. Jinhyuk noted the stacks of open pizza boxes and chicken that had been picked through already. His stomach growled.

“I’m so glad we didn’t fill up on cheese and stale tiny sandwiches at the art gallery,” Jinhyuk said.

“There was cheese?!” Byungchan said, clearly upset that he didn’t get to go even though he won fair and square.

“We’ll get you better cheese,” Seungwoo said. “Alright, eat up. If there’s any food left, you’re all getting forehead flicks!”

Jinhyuk made himself a plate of everything. He was so happy he couldn’t stand it. He sat on the floor in the living room where they were congregating and secured a pair of mouse ears on his head before digging in. Yuvin dangled a piece of pizza over Byungchan with a pair of kitchen tongs as if he was fishing. Byungchan tried to catch the end of it with his mouth but was having trouble. 

“Can I  _ please _ have my arms back,” he asked, aggravated.

“No,” all four including Jinhyuk said.

“Then can you please remove the vegetables,” he pouted.

“You’ll get better faster if you eat them,” Seungwoo insisted. “And then you can get your arms back.”

“Fine, but can someone else do this? Yuvin is terrible.”

“If I’m terrible, it’s because of my injured hand,” Yuvin said. “Now hold still, I almost got it this time.”

Clown Seungyoun sat next to Jinhyuk with a heaping plate of food. “You humans really know how to eat.”

“Where did you get the money for all of this?” Jinhyuk asked knowing he was the only one there with a job.

“From the neighborhood,” he said vaguely.

“This is ghost food?” Jinhyuk asked with a mouthful of a cupcake, not the least bit afraid.

“Yep! There’s a lot of people on the Other Side who like doing their old jobs. It’s better than walking around all day and rattling chains or haunting abandoned buildings.”

“I thought the Other Side was a bad place.”

“Mm! Oh, it’s like multidimensional,” he said. “There’s like a lot of layers to it. Like when you and Byungchan went grocery shopping or how living people can’t find the apartment building.”

Jinhyuk’s eyes widened. 

“On, no, you’re not dead,” he clarified. “That’s why you need a map.”

“I think that’s enough for today,” Seungwoo plopped down next to them.

“I’m fine,” Jinhyuk insisted. 

“I’m sure you are,” he said. “But if I have to hear him try to debunk the death place again, I’m going to lose my mind.”

Seungyoun shrugged. “I think I was a scientist in a previous life.”

“Were you?” Jinhyuk asked.

“Was I?” Seungyoun said, scratching at his clown makeup. “I can’t remember. This stuff is making my skin itch. I’m going to go wash it off.”

“Me too,” Yuvin said. 

As they went into the bathroom together, Byungchan whined about having no one to feed him.

“I got it,” Seungwoo said, getting up. 

Jinhyuk watched them for a while quietly. Seungwoo wasn’t afraid of having his fingers bitten, and Byungchan wasn’t snapping at him. He did end up giving into his wishes and picking the vegetables off of the pizza for him, but that wasn’t important. He also somehow managed to feed him a couple of chicken wings which took far more coordination than the average person could manage.  _ They really are a family. My family. _

After Seungyoun and Yuvin cleaned themselves up and changed into their pajamas, they entertained Byungchan while Seungwoo and Jinhyuk changed out of their gallery clothes into something more appropriate for lounging around with no one to show off to.

The five decided to finish up Jinhyuk’s first birthday party with a drama, and Jinhyuk didn’t even worry about having to wake up for work in the morning. They let him choose the drama, and he was quite excited to watch their favorite show with everyone for his birthday (after the four of them insisted that they watch it since he had never seen it before, even though it was supposed to be his choice). 

He wanted to remember that feeling forever, and he knew one way he could try.

“Wait,” he said before they turned off the lights. “Can we take a picture first?”

“A picture?” Seungyoun asked.

“You know, like a group photo? Every birthday party needs a present, and this is what I want this year.”

They piled onto the couch next to each other so that Byungchan could be included. He was so excited to have his picture taken for the first time that he didn’t bother attacking anyone.

Five was a tight squeeze for a couch, but it didn’t feel awkward or uncomfortable at all. Jinhyuk reached his arm out and took the photo of himself with the four smiling ghouls so he could remember that night forever. Everyone was very excited to point out how good they looked in their first photo. Seungyoun pointed out that he was much more handsome in person, but then he took Jinhyuk’s phone and started practicing his selfies with Yuvin.

For some reason seeing the photo of them together gave him an odd sense of dejavu like he had seen it somewhere before. He decided it must have just been a wave of pre-nostalgia that people sometimes got when they were feeling sentimental about a moment. 

The picture of them together was so nice, he thought about having it framed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t really have any notes I guess so uhhh support up10tion’s comeback and x1’s debut c:


	11. Seeing Red

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jinhyuk has a great day at work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I honestly did not think I was going to get to update this week because I’m planning on diving head first into celebrating X1’s debut, but I busted my ass and somehow made it in time 😭

Jinhyuk’s dreams were filled with a sky the color of blood and the visage of a man with hair the color of a raven’s wing that matched his suit. It was slick like oil that clung to his skin, sickly and hot, but then it was soft, and windswept, and kind. 

He was a father and a brother, but then he was something as horrid as the face of death itself. He was a god, ancient and evil, but at the same time he was benevolent and unchanging. 

Bits of his skeleton peaked through jagged rips in his clothing, but his skin was warm and youthful. He was alive in a dead place, and the birds picked at him but he didn’t shake them off, choosing instead to let them feed.

Jinhyuk watched him unable to cry out, unable to move, unable to look away. 

The god of death turned to him and raised his arms above his head. The sound of the world deadened to a ringing in his ears, drowning out the pulse that hammered inside his head.

Jinhyuk’s gaze followed up to a red sky that bled into the clouds, and he thought, to his own horror, that the rain might peel the flesh from his bones.

The god of death smiled, and the clouds parted revealing a perfectly mirrored world, and he was trapped on the wrong side.

He woke to the sound of his alarm on his phone, the dream already forgotten. 

He was in a pleasant mood despite having to face Wooseok and then Yohan at once in front of everyone he knew. Seungwoo had shown up exactly when he needed him to to play the part of the beautiful doting boyfriend he had learned about from watching too many dramas with the others, and Jinhyuk would never be able to repay him. 

He couldn’t have asked that from someone in a million years, but Seungwoo did it anyways because that’s what friends did, wasn’t it? Friends supported and took care of each other without feeling embarrassed or being too proud, and they were his friends and he was theirs. They didn’t have to be, to be honest. People lived together all the time without any interaction other than what was necessary when sharing a space, but he was glad that this group was different.

He left for work much earlier than usual, noted by the fact that the sunrise cast an intense orange glow over the world outside of the apartment building that was almost blinding. It was a welcome change from the eerie greenish gray light that reflected off of everything, but he supposed that was just what ghost neighborhoods looked like. It was creepy, but at least he didn’t have to worry about getting mugged in his own neighborhood. It was perfect, really. The rent was cheap, he had his own room (kind of), his roommates were quite pleasant when they weren’t harvesting body parts, Seungwoo had a car that sometimes worked when it was in the right mood, and there was no crime or traffic. His pace became jolly and enthusiastic. It was a good morning.

He forgot to eat breakfast again, but he was so stuffed from all the party food from the night before, he couldn’t think of eating yet. Instead of hanging out at the apartment, he decided to get to work early to switch out the decorations for the season and maybe drink some of the mint tea they kept on the shelves to soothe his overworked stomach. He doubted ghouls kept mint tea around, but he was too shy to ask.

When he got there — way before opening — Jinwoo and Dongpyo were already there sitting at a table peeling hard boiled eggs for themselves.

“What are you two doing here,” he asked, baffled. “You’re not even scheduled to work today.”

“Oh, good, you’re here,” Jinwoo said, perking up. “Would you like an egg?”

“No, thank you,” he said. “But you didn’t answer my ques–.”

“Did you know there was an eclipse last night?” Dongpyo said, ignoring him. “It was raining so no one saw it, but apparently there was a lunar eclipse. There’s a bunch of pictures of the moon all over the internet. I’m surprised you didn’t see.”

“I don’t really use any social media,” he admitted, forgetting what he was about to scold them for in the first place.

“That’s boring,” Dongpyo said, biting into an egg.

Jinhyuk frowned.

“You must be thirsty,” Jinwoo said. “The vein is popping out of your neck. Let me get you something. Water? Coffee?”

Jinhyuk reached up to touch his neck. If it was bulging out it was because Dongpyo was being a pain in the ass, and it had nothing to do with his self hydration at all. “I was going to make some mint tea.”

“Ah! Good idea! You probably have terrible indigestion because of how old you are,” Jinwoo said cheerfully.

“I’m not old!”

“What are you like, 50?” Dongpyo said, peeling another egg for himself.

Jinhyuk grumbled. “I’m only a couple of years older than you guys, and where did you get those eggs?”

“Behind the counter,” Dongpyo said. “Shouldn’t you be in college, then?”

“Well–.”

Dongpyo clicked his tongue behind his teeth. “You didn’t get accepted, right? Well don’t feel so bad. There’s always next year. If you study. You might need to bribe someone, though.”

“Yeah! There’s always next year!” Jinwoo added.

“That’s not why I–,” he started, but Jinwoo shoved a hot mug at him so strongly, he almost spilled the boiling water all over himself. “Thanks…”

Jinhyuk sighed, and Jinwoo went back to his stack of egg shells. They must have gone through a dozen eggs already, and he was worried that someone from the upper management was going to be pissed at him specifically. 

He stood at the counter and waited for the tea to steep to how he liked it. He tasted it, blowing on the top first, and thought that it was a little pungent, but at least the customers never complained.

“Don’t you have school,” he asked.

“No,” they said in unison, focused on their eggs. He shrugged. That was all the energy he had for Dongpyo and Jinwoo that day.

Byungchan’s neck was killing him. He hated sleeping on the couch more than anything, and they refused to let him up or into any of the bedrooms. What was worse was that without the use of his arms, he couldn’t change the channel, and Yuvin watched way too many home shopping shows for his own taste. Kitchen appliances he could understand. They had a  _ purpose _ , but Yuvin liked to watch episodes about camping supplies and sports equipment. He was always talking about going hiking, but he had no idea what it was like to spend centuries walking everywhere under the cover of nightfall no less! Byungchan flopped down in his restraining blanket and huffed.  _ This sucks. _

“Byungchannieeee,” Seungyoun said cutely in the kitchen. “Today is a good day!”

“Why?” He said, staring at the ceiling that was most certainly water stained. He would forget to tell Seungwoo. Just like he forgot to tell Seungwoo that the bathroom sink was leaking and had kept him up all night. And he forgot to tell Seungwoo that Yuvin had dug a raccoon sized hole in his closet wall like he was tunneling his way out. 

“If your stomach is healed, you can have your arms back,” he sang. 

Byungchan shot up, almost tearing his stitches. “Really?!”

“Mhm! If I don’t have to worry about you pulling out your stitches, you can be free again,” he said, bringing him a plate of spicy stir fried entrails. Seungyoun also had an oven mitt and a set of kitchen tongs with him for safety.

“I promise I won’t bite you,” Byungchan said.

“Nuh uh,” Seungyoun shook his head. “My hands are more precious to me than gold, and if you maim me, I will never forgive you.”

“It’s so hard to eat this way! It’s not fair!”

“You should have thought about that before you took off the tip of Yuvin’s finger,” he scolded, passing Byungchan the first piece. “I could have sewed it back on, but you had to go and  _ swallow it.” _

“I was  _ starving,” _ Byungchan defended himself. 

“Yes, and I’m not going to take the chance that you’re  _ starving  _ today,” he said. “By the way… what did it taste like?”

“Hmm?”

“Ghoul… what do we taste like?”

“I’m not telling,” Byungchan said, defiant. “You should have asked before you tied me up and made me suffer.”

“Oh come on! Please! When will I ever get the chance to find out?” He said, withholding Byungchan’s meat.

Byungchan glared. “Give me my breakfast or I will find out again.”

Seungyoun’s eyes widened, taken aback. “Are you  _ threatening me?” _

“Come here!” Byungchan lunged forward, but was held back by the bulk of his blankets. “I’ll show you a threat!”

“Byungchan,” Seungwoo warned, coming out of his room. “That’s enough.”

“He started it,” he pouted.

“I know he did,” Seungwoo said, earning a look of shock from Seungyoun. “Don’t look at me like that. I hear everything. Now, tell Seungyoun what the ghoul meat tastes like.”

Seungwoo leaned over the counter, eyes wide in curiosity. 

“I can’t believe this,” Byungchan mumbled. “It tasted kind of like raw pork fat.”

“Eww,” they both said, grimacing.

“It was pretty disgusting,” Byungchan admitted. 

“That’s disappointing,” Seungyoun said, feeding him another piece. “Surely I taste better than Yuvin at least.”

A loud noise of protest sounding a lot like a “shut up” came from the direction of Jinhyuk’s bedroom.

“Feed me faster if you don’t want to find out,” Byungchan threatened again, but this time, Seungwoo snorted.

“You do it!” Seungyoun shouted at Seungwoo. “He obviously won’t bite you!”

“I have to go run a few errands,” he said, pulling on his coat. “Byungchan, don’t bite him.”

“Fine,” he grumbled. Before they could ask where Seungwoo was going, he was gone, but that was his way. He took care of them all, but there was a lot about himself that he wouldn’t share even after a thousand years with Byungchan, and that was just with him. He would have hid even more from Seungyoun and Yuvin, and Jinhyuk would never have the chance to scratch the surface. That was what an eternity of wandering did to a person.

Byungchan chose to always be positive and happy because it made things easier. The longest he had ever been in a bad mood was only about twenty years, and he didn’t have any secrets. He never went places by himself. He never ran errands.

Seungyoun carefully unwrapped him, and his arms sprang free to his delight. He then lifted up the bottom of his shirt (to both of their embarrassments) to check on the bandage. There was a little blood but nothing to be concerned about. Byungchan winced when he pulled it back to reveal the healing stitches. 

“The good news is, you seem to be healing,” Seungyoun said.

“What’s the bad news?”

“I don’t think I can take these out yet,” he frowned.

“Please don’t wrap me up,” Byungchan pleaded. “I can’t stand it.”

“If you can control yourself, I won’t,” he said. “This needs to breathe anyways.”

Byungchan wrapped his arms around his neck and kissed his cheek. “Thank you! I’m free!”

Seungyoun jerked back, pulling his head away worried he would bite his ear. “Yeah, yeah, try not to hurt anyone.”

Byungchan smiled, satisfied, and picked up his remote to change the channel.

Jinhyuk was not an artist. 

How was he supposed to design a specials display with a standing blackboard and a handful of colored chalks when he could barely sign his own name for a package? This was when he would have picked up his phone, called Wooseok, asked Wooseok for help, be told that he was busy, and then draw the stupid sign anways except with a ruined mood. He wasn’t the only person who worked there. Someone else could have done this, but no, for some reason, it  _ had  _ to be him. He frowned. _ Happy autumn we have cinnamon flavored things. I know you can’t read this, but surprise. It’s cinnamon. _

“We can do that,” Dongpyo offered.

Jinhyuk blinked. “Are you actually offering to help me with something?”

“Helping you is a coincidence,” he said, raising his hands into the shape of a box to look at the board through. “We happen to be quite good at drawing things.”

“We’re experts,” Jinwoo said.

Jinhyuk set down the chalks and wiped any excess dust off of himself. “If you think you can do better than me, be my guest.”

“We can,” they said together, confidently. 

He grumbled and walked back to the counter to prepare for customers. He hoped they could get the sign ready in time. 

The cafe used a special playlist depending on the time of year or the occasion, and as he hummed along to AKMU’s Will Last Forever, he began to feel sentimental. It was a good day to watch the world drift by outside.

But then suddenly it was busy. It was too busy in fact. The three of them could barely handle all of the orders. Jinhyuk was stressed that they would run out of cinnamon, pumpkin, apple, and caramel flavors to add to things before the end of the day, and it was really all too much at once. 

After it seemed that they served every single person on the block, business died down to its usual comfortable busyness that they could handle. A few people were enjoying their snacks with the wifi, and some of the office workers stopped down for a midmorning “pick me up”, but they were no longer drowning.

“That was intense,” he said to Jinwoo who was washing out a stack of used mugs.

“Told you we could do better,” he said, proud, but Jinhyuk doubted the sign had anything to do with it.

Dongpyo came over and set a tray onto the counter to be cleaned up. “My, someone’s popular. How many visitors are you planning to get this week?”

“No one,” Jinhyuk said, surprised. “I mean there was the one…”

“Then who’s that guy,” Jinwoo asked, pointing to someone behind them. 

“Whoever he is, he’s more my style than the other one,” Dongpyo said. 

Jinhyuk turned around and saw Seungwoo at the back of the cafe, walking towards them. “What is he doing here?”

Jinhyuk walked across the cafe looking like he had seen a ghost followed by two tiny but curious cafe workers. They must have been the new trainees Jinhyuk had complained so much about. Seungwoo couldn’t help but laugh seeing the way he towered over them. 

“Is everything okay,” Jinhyuk asked, stressed out. “Did anyone get hurt?”

“No! No, everything’s fine!” Seungwoo assured him. “I was just in the neighborhood to pick up a couple of things, and Seungyoun had mentioned you worked here, so I thought I would stop by.”

Jinhyuk’s eyes darted in the direction of the hospital. “Ahhhh! Of course.”

“But you seem really busy,” he said, taking note of all the cafe’s customers. 

“It’s fine! It’s not as bad as earlier. Here,” Jinhyuk said, pulling out a chair for him. “Why don’t you take a seat and order whatever you want. It’s on me.”

One of the workers slid over and smiled, twirling his hand. “I can take care of him.”

Jinhyuk eyed him, and Seungwoo tried to hold back an amused smile. “I don’t want to steal anyone’s time.”

A large group of college kids came in. Jinhyuk looked at the worker and sighed. “Dongpyo, can you take care of him for me? I have to–.”

“Yes, yes,” the tiny worker named Dongpyo ushered Jinhyuk away. “I will take care of him for you. Go!”

Jinhyuk was shuffled away, and Seungwoo couldn’t help but laugh.  _ He lets everyone walk over him, doesn’t he. _

Dongpyo came closer to hand him a menu, and Seungwoo got a chance to get a good look at his face. It was curious and almost too childlike, but it made him wonder… 

“Please, look over the menu, and I’ll return in a minute to take your order,” he flashed a smile and spun around to leave.

“Sprite.” Seungwoo said, firm. 

Dongpyo froze. He took a breath and spun back around on his heel with a bigger smile. “I’m sorry, sir, but we don’t carry any of that here. Can I get you something else?”

“I wasn’t asking,” he said.

The worker’s smile dropped too quickly, revealing an unhidden version of himself that no one else had happened to see. He stomped over and snatched the menu up out if his hands.

“How did you know,” he hissed.

“ _ Please _ ,” Seungwoo said. “This whole place stinks of fairy magic, and the sign you drew outside was almost vulgar.”

Dongpyo huffed and dropped down in the chair in front of him, folding his arms across his chest. “We weren’t breaking any rules you know. The park is  _ right there _ , and the cherry blossoms even sometimes get blown in here by the wind so we’re still technically inside the lines.”

“Tell me what you’re doing here, and I might be willing to keep it a secret,” Seungwoo bargained, knowing how important deals were with sprites. 

“We have a right to work you know,” Dongpyo tapped his finger on the table. “It gets so boring hiding out there in the park all the time. No one even  _ bothers  _ to leave any babies or silver coins around to steal. Like, what are we supposed to do all day?”

Seungwoo nodded, considering it. “Is that all?”

“Of course it is,” Dongpyo pouted.

“No tricks?”

“Nothing… excessive,” he said, looking away. “Don’t look at me like that. You know we can’t help it.”

“I know you can’t,” Seungwoo agreed. “That’s why I’m making sure you don’t cause any trouble for my human?”

“Ahhhhh,” Dongpyo said, seeing a way to get out of trouble. “Of course! We wouldn’t dream of it! You won’t tell anyone, right?”

Seungwoo nodded. He actually had no idea who to report rogue sprites to, but Dongpyo didn’t need to know that.

“Oh, but one thing...”

“Hm?”

“Are you sure he’s human,” Dongpyo asked, looking over his shoulder to Jinhyuk who was taking an order at the counter.

“Of course I’m sure,” Seungwoo said. There was no one more  _ painfully _ human than Jinhyuk.

“I don’t know…” Dongpyo turned back around, but Seungwoo’s eyes remained on Jinhyuk who was most definitely human. “We’ve been trying to pull tricks on him for weeks, and he doesn’t fall for any of them. Jinwoo keeps trying to poison him, but he just pours whatever it is down the drain, but, like, he doesn’t  _ know  _ he’s doing it, you know? He just dumps the liquid without looking.”

Seungwoo glared at him.

“I mean, we weren’t trying to kill him,” Dongpyo laughed nervously. “There’s a hospital across the street! It was supposed to be funny!”

Seungwoo frowned, and Dongpyo squirmed in his seat.

“Ahhh! That’s so uncomfortable,” he scooted his chair back. “We won’t do it anymore! We didn’t know!”

Seungwoo relaxed. There was no point in terrorizing him with all of those witnesses around. “If he gets so much as a stomach ache…”

“Aigoo,” Dongpyo flashed a smile. “This will be the safest cafe in town for our Jinhyun!”

“Jinhyuk,” Seungwoo corrected. 

“Him too!” Dongpyo stood up and bowed. “I’ll get you that coffee, sir.”

Soon, Seungwoo was sipping a hot coffee that hadn’t been tampered with and reading one of the books from the cafe shelf that were free to borrow inside the store. Once the customers died down, Jinhyuk was free to sit with him. He brought a cup of tea with him and collapsed into the chair.

“Whoo, I’m tired,” he said, but he looked happy. 

“Is it okay for you to be sitting with me,” Seungwoo asked. “You don’t have to if you’re busy.”

“It’s not too bad right now,” he said. “Besides, I need a break. If more people come in, I’ll go back.”

“Do you like working here?”

“I do,” he said. “I was hoping to one day own my own cafe, actually.”

“Why don’t you?”

Jinhyuk laughed. “Money. But it’s okay! If I work hard, then maybe it can happen.”

Seungwoo propped himself up on the table. “I could make Byungchan get a job.”

They both laughed at that and took turns coming up with jobs Byungchan could do. Almost all of them resulted in burning the place down.

“When do you get off of work?” Seungwoo asked.

Jinhyuk checked the time on his phone. “In a couple of hours.”

“Oh good! I have to run my errands, but I can drive you home if you want,” Seungwoo offered.

“If you think you’ll be around by then, that would be great actually,” Jinhyuk said before lowering his voice. “Is your car still mad at me?”

Seungwoo shook his head. “It hasn’t said anything, but I doubt it unless you insulted it again.

Jinhyuk covered his face. “That was an accident!”

Before Seungwoo could insist that he was just teasing, another large group came in, and Jinhyuk had to leave, and then Seungwoo had to leave before he ran out of time.

Jinhyuk gathered his things to leave at the end of his shift. It was nice for his roommate to stop by while he was close by to see him. No one had ever done that before, even though he had worked there for years, and Jinhyuk was grateful that he had offered to drive him home even if that meant Seungwoo was going to have to wait around for him. 

He didn’t have a way to call or text him to let him know he was ready, but luckily he spotted Seungwoo on a park bench not too far away. 

“Hey,” Jinhyuk said, trying not to startle him.

“Oh, there you are,” he said.

“I didn’t make you wait too long, did I,” Jinhyuk asked.

“I’ve been waiting for thousands of years,” Seungwoo said. “This was nothing.”

Jinhyuk shook his head and sat next to him. 

They were quiet for a while, and Jinhyuk thought he could get used to the nothingness that came with the silence. He could just exist.

They watched a couple taking pictures together near a small pond. The leaves hadn’t quite turned yet, but the weather made people hopeful. It was the promise of sentimental feelings to come.

“I love this park,” Jinhyuk said. 

“It is nice,” Seungwoo replied, his voice soft and dreamy like he had been thinking for too long. 

Jinhyuk cleared his throat. “We should get going.”

“Right,” Seungwoo said, standing up. “Don’t want the meat to go bad in the car.”

They talked the whole way home. Seungwoo talked about the old days before there was a city beneath them, and Jinhyuk talked about dropping out of school to work full time. At first Jinhyuk was embarrassed to compare the minute details of his short life to Seungwoo’s literal war stories, but he had a way of making him feel like every moment mattered. And then he thought that maybe it did matter. He thought about what it would be like to wake up having completely forgotten everything about himself, his family, and everything he loved, and then finding out the whole world was terrified of him. It was a good time to start valuing everything about the life he had because it  _ was a life. _

While telling stories and being generally chatty, Jinhyuk brought up Seungwoo’s mysterious errands, and that was when it slipped that Seungwoo had stopped by the art gallery to pick up something.

“You didn’t…” Jinhyuk said, horrified.

“I did,” Seungwoo said, not looking at him.

“We have to take it back!”

“He said to help ourselves to whatever we wanted!”

“He meant the  _ refreshments,” _ Jinhyuk said.

“Then he should have been more specific.”

They didn’t notice the world around them change at first. Before, Jinhyuk didn’t know where the veil that hid them from the outside world ended or where it began, but now everything glowed red from a sun that wasn’t natural. 

“What is this?” Jinhyuk said, getting out of the car. Everything was the color of blood, and Jinhyuk remembered his dream. “Seungwoo?”

But Seungwoo stood baffled, and Jinhyuk could see that he was hiding the fear that shook his eyes.

“What’s going on?” Jinhyuk asked. “What’s happening.”

“I don’t know,” he said. “Let’s get everything inside just in case.”

Seungwoo wanted to get back to the apartment more than he did, and Jinhyuk wondered what he was so afraid of. If Seungwoo was afraid, then Jinhyuk had no reason to be as calm as he was.

“You get the cooler and go in,” he said. “I’ll get the painting out of the trunk.”

“Isn’t it better if we go in together? What if it’s another harpy?”

“It’s not a harpy,” Seungwoo said, opening the trunk. “ _ Go.” _

_ “Not without you,” _ Jinhyuk insisted.

Seungwoo glared at him, pulling his little scary aura trick, but Jinhyuk wasn’t having it. He glared back, with nothing to flex other than the fact that Seungwoo needed to suck it up and stick by his side.

Seungwoo blinked, surprised. “You’re not leaving?”

“No,” he said, grabbing the cooler. “Now let’s go.”

Seungwoo followed him with Wooseok’s painting tucked under his arm, and the hairs on Jinhyuk’s neck stood up.  _ Why the fuck is everything red?  _ If Seungwoo knew, he wasn’t offering any answers or explanations. 

Once they got inside the building where it was presumably safe, Jinhyuk needed to speak up.

“Seungwoo,” he said, his voice shaking.

“Hmm?”

“I’m sure it’s nothing, but…”

“But what?”

Jinhyuk took a breath. “I had a dream last night that everything was really red like blood colored like it is right now, and there was a man.”

“What man?” Seungwoo furrowed his brows, concerned.

“This is going to sound stupid, but it was just a dream and I had too much pizza before bed, and sometimes that makes me have crazy dreams,” Jinhyuk said, embarassed.

Seungwoo waited patiently for him to gather himself, and Jinhyuk knew that he was being dumb by mentioning it in the first place, but he wanted Seungwoo to tell him that he was overreacting so that he could relax.

“He called himself the god of death.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ehehehehehehehehe 
> 
> my twitter is @seungteefs ^-^


	12. An Old Friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seungwoo knows more than he lets on.
> 
> OR
> 
> Sh*t gets spicy in Spooky Town

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is mostly* from Seungwoo’s point of view because he knows things, and also I wanted to have some Seungwoo time for Me.

The god of death wasn’t something to joke about or something he ever wanted to hear spoken about ever in his life. For someone who had spent his entire afterlife trapped between two worlds, he had seen first hand why it was important that those worlds remained separate. That’s why Jinhyuk’s dream drained the color from Seungwoo’s face and made his knees buckle slightly enough not to be seen but to be felt by their owner like the tremor of an aftershock. 

Jinhyuk wasn’t afraid. Not the way he should have been. He was more curious than anything, and it was that curiosity that was bound to get them all killed. The worlds needed to remain separate no matter what the cost, but his was bleeding red and he didn’t know where to find the wound. 

Jinhyuk went in first to hold the door open for him. The painting Jinhyuk’s former lover had painted of him and hung in a gallery for no reason other than to flaunt his own interpretation of a person he had thrown away was tucked safely under his arm.  _ Like family.  _ Seungwoo wouldn’t toss away his family. In fact no matter what they did after a thousand years he kept them close to him.

He didn’t understand it at all so it was his painting now. Wooseok could take it back if he could find it. He was sure that in seventy or so years his ghost would want to have a few words with him, and when that day came, he would be ready. What was an angry ghost to a ghoul with values and no conscience?

_ One thing at a time, Seungwoo. _ He didn’t have the time to be grouchy about Wooseok disrespecting Jinhyuk  _ and  _ deal with what could have potentially been the apocalypse on their hands. No. God of death first. Human problems second.

“Has anyone gone outside today?” Jinhyuk asked. 

Byungchan was on the couch, freed from his restraints but calm. Yuvin was in the kitchen rummaging through the fridge, and Seungyoun looked like he was having a nap on the couch with his head on Byungchan’s lap. If they had noticed anything was wrong, they were doing an excellent job of looking unbothered. “The whole sky is red.”

“What do you mean ‘red’,” Seungyoun said, opening one of his eyes.

“Like the sun looks like the fucking Eye of Sauron right now,” Jinhyuk said, amazement in his voice. If there was one way to stir up a gaggle of ghouls, it was with a well timed movie reference. Seungyoun hopped up and headed to the door, and Yuvin followed him, tupperware container of raw meat in hand. 

Byungchan tried to push himself off the couch, but he was still weak from the harpy’s venom that had seeped into his abdomen. 

“Stay there,” Seungwoo said.

“I want to see it,” he said.

“I’ll help you later, but right now we need to talk.”

“Me?” Byungchan asked, surprised. 

“Yes, you,” he said, trying to keep his voice calm, but Jinhyuk eyed him suspiciously.

“I should go outside,” Jinhyuk said, shifting his gaze between them. 

Seungwoo nodded and waited until he left before he sat down with Byungchan. “How’s your stomach?”

“It’s okay,” he said.

“Can I see it,” he asked. He hadn’t looked at the wound since he carried him inside that day, and he hadn’t been the one to stitch him back up or take care of him afterwards. He hadn’t been around at all since Byungchan got hurt, now that he thought about it. 

Byungchan frowned and shook his head. “Not unless you show me first.”

“I don’t–,” he said, but Byungchan grabbed his shirt and snatched it out from behind his waistband. He winced in pain. “Ow!”

“How did it happen?”

Seungwoo looked away. “That stupid butcher stabbed me when we went to The Docks. It’s fine, though. It’s not as bad as yours.”

“Who sewed you up,” Byungchan scolded. “You’ve got thread sticking out all over the place.”

Seungwoo sighed. “I know. Look, this isn’t important right now so please don’t bother mentioning it to the others. You said something the other day about ‘death coming’. What did you mean?”

Byungchan frowned. “I don’t remember. It must have been the venom making me crazy.”

“No, it wasn’t. I need you to think.”

“You’re scared,” he said, curious.

“I’m not scared.”

Byungchan looked at him closely, examining the features on his face. “I said death is coming? And Jinhyuk had a dream, didn’t he? Jinhyuk has a lot of dreams. He talks in his sleep, you know. He talks in his sleep about you and pretends he doesn’t. He has other dreams too, but he doesn’t remember those. Those are the bad dreams.”

Seungwoo had spent a thousand years telling Byungchan not to do that, but he needed him to this time. He needed him to read everything until he knew what he was up against.

“You’re afraid,” he added.

“I think that’s enough,” Seungwoo stood up, putting some space between them. “Thank you.”

“What do you know, Seungwoo?”

Seungyoun and Yuvin came back in before he had the chance to lie. Jinhyuk trailed after him and gave Seungwoo an apologetic look before leaving to get changed. 

“Why is everything red?” Yuvin said.

“I have no idea,” Seungwoo said. “Maybe it’s a dust storm.”

“A dust storm,” Seungyoun repeated in disbelief.

Jinhyuk returned in normal clothes and joined them. “One of the little twerps I work with said there was an eclipse last night. Could that have something to do with it?”

“I don’t think so,” Seungwoo said. “It would have been over by now.”

“Not if time stopped,” Byungchan mused. “That could happen in a place like this.”

“But it’s not dark out,” Seungyoun pointed out.

“It doesn’t have to be,” Seungwoo said. 

After their group meeting, they decided to not wander around outside on their own for a while. The harpy incident already had them on edge, but even ghouls knew not to fuck around when the world changed colors. 

Jinhyuk complained that he would never get his things back now that they had stolen Wooseok’s painting, and Seungwoo had to admit to himself that he had not thought about that ahead of time. Technically, Wooseok couldn’t  _ prove _ he stole it. It could have very well been lost in transit. The world would just have to mourn the loss of a great work of art that now hung in Seungwoo’s living room next to the tv where they could all see and appreciate it.

Seungyoun stepped back to look at it. “It really does look like Jinhyuk.”

“I don’t see it,” Jinhyuk mumbled. He was dealing cards to Byungchan on the sofa cushion, avoiding looking at the painting. His protests against putting it in such an obvious place had been unanimously ignored.

“Yeah, he really captured your essence with the paint splatter,” Seungyoun said, scratching his chin. 

“Tell me, are you all art experts,” Jinhyuk asked, sounding a little irritated. 

“You pick things up,” Seungyoun said. “People didn’t used to splatter paint, and then they did  _ a lot _ . It’s weird your friend tried to splatter you.”

“He’s not my friend,” Jinhyuk said.

“Then why would he bother painting you,” he asked.

Seungwoo cleared his throat, and Seungyoun dropped it.

Jinhyuk frowned and returned to his cards. He had initially declared that he would teach Byungchan the real way to play poker, but the major flaw in his plan was that Byungchan did not want to learn the “real way” because his way assured him that he could never ever lose. Seungwoo watched them play, deep in thought and barely able to focus long enough to hear Jinhyuk insist that a full house was not better than a royal flush.

As the day went on, Jinhyuk gave up trying to teach Byungchan anything and just played by his rules which meant that he spent several hours losing a game that Byungchan was making up as he went along. Yuvin and Seungyoun watched tv, and Seungwoo sat alone unable to settle is thoughts. He needed some air and decided to slip out once no one was paying attention.

The temperature was dropping, and the sky was still a strange shade of red but it had darkened like someone had placed little droplets of ink where the clouds should have been. He sat down on the curb and wished for once that they kept liquor in the apartment. He could have used a drink.

A crow flew down, landing on a nearby streetlight and squawked.

Seungwoo looked up and nodded to it politely, but if it wanted him to look it in the eye, it was going to have to get closer to his level.

“Have you finally come for us after all these years,” he said, his voice tired and filled with a stillness that kept his heart from racing. The crow pecked at the plastic casing on the streetlight, and he sighed.

“That’s fine,” Seungwoo said. “I’ll just talk then. Actually, I’m not really in the mood to have a civil conversation with anyone right now.”

The neighborhood was too quiet, and all he could hear was the sound of his own breathing and the tiny sounds of a beak tapping glass.

“You know, I’ve read a lot of books,” he started. “I’ve read a lot of books that I probably wasn’t supposed to. And some scrolls. And a few tablets. I’ve read just about anything I shouldn’t have been able to get my hands on, really.”

The crow shuffled back and forth over the metal bar, seeming to ignore him.

“I learned a few things like what I am and where I came from. Who created me. Us, I guess.  _ Ghouls... Zombies... Hounds...  _ It’s like the world finds a new name for us whenever it wants to explain us away. I also learned that some of those books suggest that my creator has a name, and if I were to call out his name, he would be compelled to answer the summons even if it tore the other side in half, but I doubt, seeing as you’re there and I’m here, that anyone has been brave enough to test it.”

“Now,” Seungwoo continued. “What if I told you that in one of those scrolls that I wasn’t supposed to read, there was a name?”

The crow squawked back, no longer playing coy.

“What if I happened to be the only person left and to ever exist again who could call the god of death by his true name? What if I said I wanted to?”

The crow squawked angrily and flapped its wings, hurrying off to somewhere only dead things could fly. Seungwoo grumbled to himself. “ _ Coward.” _

“Who are you talking to?” Jinhyuk said from behind him, startling him.

He laughed at himself for getting scared so easily by the human, but he had just spent a terrible amount of energy protecting his house. “An old friend.”

“Hmm,” he said, sitting down next to him. “Tell me about him.”

Seungwoo shook his head. “Not yet.”

Jinhyuk sighed and rested his head on Seungwoo’s shoulder. “We’re friends right?”

“Of course,” he said.

“Friends don’t have to keep secrets,” Jinhyuk said.  Seungwoo nudged his head against his and let out a deep breath. “Friends don’t have to hold everything in by themselves.”

“I have to,” he said quietly, fighting a deep sadness that he couldn’t explain. 

They sat quietly together for a while without questions or explanations, but then Jinhyuk sat back up and suddenly Seungwoo found himself missing the weight of him against his shoulder. “Did you talk to Byungchan?”

He nodded his head, feeling warm but scared at the same time. 

“He knows things doesn’t he,” he asked, reflective.

“Byungchan is… special,” Seungwoo said. 

“He was a shaman right? I mean you said you found him wandering around in shaman’s clothes. He can read minds, and he was the first person you wanted to talk to when we got back and then things got serious again,” Jinhyuk thought allowed. “Seungyoun might have been a scientist or a doctor once maybe, but that’s just a guess. I’ve been thinking about it, and I feel like you’re all the same people you used to be, and you died right so maybe that’s what death is? Maybe the way we find peace is by forgetting ourselves.”

Seungwoo smiled and placed his hand on Jinhyuk’s knee. “You’ve become a much better guesser these days. How did that happen?”

“I saw enough to finally believe my own eyes,” he said looking down, his face too tired.

Seungwoo nodded. He had seen enough for a lifetime. 

“Can you tell me something?”

“What is it,” Seungwoo asked.

“Was it just a dream?”

Seungwoo chewed on his own lip. It was a question he couldn’t answer for Jinhyuk, but it was also one that Jinhyuk didn’t really have the capability to answer for himself yet. 

“No,” he said, ultimately choosing to let Jinhyuk prepare himself for anything that might come their way even if it was true or not. He couldn’t protect him, and he needed any information he could get. If Jinhyuk felt inclined to share more of his dreams without feeling like he would get blown off, it would benefit them both.

Jinhyuk nodded with resolution.

Seungwoo watched him lift his hand and move it towards him, hesitate, and pull away, and he wondered what he had intended to do. 

“Let’s go inside,” he said. “It’s getting dark, and we probably shouldn’t be out here after sunset.”

Seungwoo laughed. “Why not?”

“Shit always goes bad after sunset.”

The next morning Jinhyuk woke up not as well rested as he could have been. 

For some reason, Byungchan decided that he had healed enough to be allowed off the couch, and that he had to sleep in Jinhyuk’s bed because it was the comfiest in the whole apartment which would have been fine if not for the fact that Jinhyuk was scared to death that he would accidentally tear out Byungchan’s stitches in his sleep. The only good part about sleeping with one eye open all night was that he didn’t have a chance to dream. He wasn’t ready for more dreams. He wasn’t ready to see the man with the slick black hair and a hooked nose or the birds that picked at him. 

Instead he settled for being exhausted and going to work early again where absolutely nothing supernatural could bother him.

He dressed and decided to have breakfast before leaving. He was tired of eating convenience store food before work every morning because it was making him sluggish and he needed his energy to  _ process _ . He was used to the commute from Ghost Town to the city so he probably wouldn’t be late. So what if he was? 

He closed the apartment door behind him, but before he headed down the stairs, he heard a strange rattling. He listened carefully as the rattling grew louder and closer. He gasped and lunged forward.

He had a tight grip on the doorknob to apartment 211 on the left, but whoever or whatever was on the other side had an impossibly strong grip. It took all of Jinhyuk’s strength to keep it from snapping his wrists.

He threw his whole back into it, using his body as a counterweight with his foot on the doorframe. The thing on the other side pulled against him and the door fluttered opened and shut. Tiny gray shadows that looked like butterflies slipped out when it did, and Jinhyuk worried he couldn’t hold it off for long.

He took a deep breath and cried out.

“Help!” He shouted, but his roommates didn’t come.

The thing on the other side of the door snarled and scratched at the door, and Jinhyuk realized what he had done. Seungwoo had warned him to not let them notice him, and now it wanted him. If it touched him…

“HELP!” He cried out, more desperate than ever. Tears stung his eyes, and he would have prayed if he thought it could help. If he ran, there wasn’t a guarantee that it wouldn’t catch him in time and tear his body apart. “ _ HELP ME, PLEASE!” _

The door behind him swung over and three of his roommates ran to him, half asleep but wild eyed. Seungyoun and Yuvin grabbed the handle, and Jinhyuk was pushed away. Seungwoo grabbed him and dragged him backwards across the floor. He reached up and clawed at Seungwoo’s shirt, terrified. Seungwoo covered his eyes with his arm.

“WHAT DO WE DO?” Yuvin shouted, barely able to hold his grip. “IT’S TOO STRONG!”

Seungyoun strained, hanging on. “I don’t know, but my hands are getting sweaty.”

“Let go,” Yuvin said. “I can hold it better without your tiny hands in the way.”

“My hands are not tiny!” Seungyoun complained, but he let go and grabbed onto Yuvin instead. 

“Jinhyuk, go into my room. There’s something that looks like a bicycle pump under my desk. Bring it to us.” Seungyoun said.

Jinhyuk pushed Seungwoo’s arm off of him and jumped up running to Seungyoun’s room. He turned on the light and worried he would never find it amongst the mess. There were stacks on stacks of papers and medical supplies. There was a chemistry set on a table and shelves filled with vials of things he didn’t want to know the contents of. Pumpkin was in her tank sleeping, and Jinhyuk was careful not to make any noise.

He found the desk, and underneath it was the device Seungyoun had described. It looked like a small tire pump, but the tube was made of a clear amber colored gas and he was sure that he shouldn’t squeeze the nozzle in the apartment.

He rushed out with it, and Seungwoo carefully took the end of the tube. 

“Push it under the door and hold your breath,” Seungyoun said. “Hurry!”

Seungwoo slipped it under, and Jinhyuk had his hands on the handle. “Ready?”

Everyone held their breath as Jinhyuk pulled up the lever and pushed down, releasing a burst of noxious fumes into the other apartment. The  _ thing  _ on the other side of the door screeched and hissed and rattled the door, and then it stopped. Everything was quiet.

No one spoke. 

Seungyoun looked back at them, his arms still around Yuvin’s waist, and Yuvin was no longer being pulled forward. Seungwoo let out a sigh and slid down the wall, covering his face in relief.

Seungyoun let go and stepped back, careful not to make a sound with his steps. He signaled to Yuvin who carefully let go of the door handle to keep it from jiggling. Jinhyuk stepped back, putting several steps between him and the door. He let out a breath.

The door burst open, and Jinhyuk, Yuvin, and Seungyoun were knocked to the ground. Something that was human but not human flew out of the apartment in such a flash, that it almost didn’t seem real. The door slammed behind it with enough force to shatter glass, and there was nothing they could do.

“Are you okay,” Jinhyuk crawled to them, but his focus was on Seungwoo whose eyes were squeezed shut. He was breathing heavily, like he was going to panic, and the other two were on the ground at his feet disoriented.

Seungwoo nodded and caught his breath. “I’m fine. Did it touch anyone?”

“No,” the three said.

Jinhyuk remembered the first time he went into the apartment. He remembered the shadow people and saw the terror on Seungwoo’s face. His face was pale, and he was doing everything he could to hold it together. The others didn’t notice, but he could be brave later. Jinhyuk dropped to his knees and covered Seungwoo’s eyes with his hand.

His skin was cold and clammy, and Jinhyuk could feel him shaking against him.

Seungwoo reached up and grabbed his hand like he was going to pull him off, but he just held on and gasped for air. He squeezed Jinhyuk’s arm with his other hand with enough force that it could have hurt, but Jinhyuk endured it. Seungwoo clung on, and Jinhyuk could feel tears pooling against his fingers. It had looked at him for only a moment, but it was enough that Seungwoo had seen the impossible horrors that Jinhyuk once had. He was fighting them quietly on his own, but he didn’t have to.

Jinhyuk waited patiently for Seungwoo to catch his breath as the visions faded, and once his grip loosened, Jinhyuk lowered his hand, but Seungwoo held on to it. He smiled at him weakly with sad eyes. Jinhyuk shook his head and wiped away the tears off of Seungwoo’s cheeks before the others saw them.  _ You’re safe. _

Seungyoun and Yuvin dusted themselves off. Everyone was still in their pajamas with their hair standing up in all directions, and he was grateful that they had heard him screaming from their deep slumbers before it was too late. His life felt fragile and fleeting in that moment like anyone could just take it away.

Byungchan opened the door and peaked out. His hand was around his waist, and he balanced himself against the frame. “Is it safe?”

That was a question that no one could answer. It was gone, sure, but to where? And would Seungyoun’s mysterious gas eventually kill it? And why did it want out so badly?

The four ghouls plus one human started their morning like they would have if nothing bad had happened.

Jinhyuk did what he had to do, and that was go to work. The others would be safe in the apartment, and Jinhyuk still had to make money to live. Honestly, if he had told them he was going to live there for free, they probably wouldn’t have stopped him but they needed the money to help fund their diet and he needed to save up enough to get the hell out of there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for the 3k views 😭 I don’t deserve any of you, and I’m so grateful that I could cry lakfnsnnfnd thank you so much!!! 
> 
> I have to like not answer anymore plot questions because we’re headed into the thick of it, and I don’t want to accidentally spoil or say something I change my mind about ajdhshdb but if you want to speculate anyways I’ll just give you vague emojis 😔
> 
> Oh, I’m on twitter @seungteefs if you want to be friends


	13. Panic! At the Disco

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I chimed in with the haven’t you people ever heard of........
> 
> Or
> 
> The ghouls make excellent handymen, and Jinhyuk does his laundry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you guys know thay Tuesday is my regularly scheduled update day? This counts as being on schedule, right?

Seungyoun stood in front of the door with his hands on his hips and huffed. 

That  _ other  _ apartment door had caused them nothing but trouble for the last couple of weeks, and he was getting to be quite frustrated about it. He didn’t even know why they wanted out so bad. This side wasn’t so great. You had to travel by car or train or horse if you wanted to get anywhere, but on that side you could just  _ go. _

There were a lot of really cool things about the other side like how you don’t have to sleep because time isn’t a thing. The ghosts are always up to something — granted it can get a little gloomy. That side had so much more to offer than this one, but why did he want to keep everything out so bad? Or in. He shook his head. One side was out, and one side was in, but that didn’t matter. They just couldn’t come to the side he was on, and that was that.

They had hurt Byungchan. They had scared the bejeezus out of Seungwoo. Jinhyuk probably needed therapy. Yuvin was okay, he guessed. But it had to stop.

“Is it safe?” Byungchan said through a space between the wall and their apartment door that was barely big enough to see through.

“It’s safe,” he said. “I’m just thinking.”

“About what?” Byungchan opened the door a little more, but still not enough for anything to get him.

“I’ve gotta close this door,” he said, idly scratching the stubble on his chin, and he couldn’t remember the last time he had shaved his face. 

“It is closed,” Byungchan stuck his head out to get a better look at apartment 211 on the left.

“Hmm,” he thought. “Have you ever been over there?”

“To where?”

“The other apartment.”

“No, the only one who ever goes back and forth that way is Seungwoo. I stay on this side where the food is.”

“Me too,” Seungyoun said. “Do you think we should ask him…”

“Ask me what?” Seungwoo said, placing his chin on top of a hunched–over Byungchan’s head.

“Oh, there you are,” Seungyoun said pretending to be happy to see him all of the sudden. Byungchan gave Seungwoo a sheepish smile and slipped out to stand behind Seungyoun. “We were just talking about you.”

“Yes, I heard,” he said. “What did you want to know about it?”

“What’s over there?” Seungyoun asked, too curious to worry about angering his leader.

Seungwoo on the other hand wasn’t upset at all. He was just tired. “It looks just like our apartment.”

“Well that’s… disappointing.”

“You guys have  _ seen  _ the other side,” Seungwoo said. “We go back and forth all the time. This is just like the general admission door to the deep part except I don’t sell tickets.”

“So it looks exactly the same?”

“Well, no, it’s more decayed? I guess? The other apartment is rotting like a body,” Seungwoo said.

_ “Is our apartment building a person?”  _ Byungchan whispered, his eyes wide with surprise.

Seungyoun turned around and looked at Byungchan with a puzzled expression that could have strained his face, and he heard Seungwoo sigh.

He turned to Seungwoo. “Well is it?!”

“No!” Seungwoo said looking at Seungyoun in disbelief. “No‍, our apartment building is not a person. It’s just a building.”

Seungyoun pouted as he considered it. “Aren’t we supposed to pay for electricity like the humans do?”

“Well…”

“Your car isn’t really a car,” he added. “Oh my god, is your car a person?”

“No, no,” Seungwoo waved his arms. “It’s just possessed by one. This is totally different.”

“How?!”

“Why are you asking me?! How am I supposed to know?!”

“Because you know everything!” Seungyoun shouted. “You always know!”

Seungwoo hung his head. “I don’t know how this building works. I just wanted us to have a home. I was just trying to take care of us.”

“Hey, don’t cry,” Seungyoun said. He wrapped his arms around Seungwoo, and Seungwoo drooped his head onto his shoulder pathetically. “It’s okay that you don’t know anything. OW!”

Seungyoun pushed himself away and frowned at Seungwoo who was smiling wickedly. 

“What is it?!” Byungchan said, frightened that something else bad had happened.

“He bit me!” Seungyoun exclaimed, rubbing his shoulder. “That jerk  _ bit me!” _

Seungwoo spat out a mouthful of lent from Seungyoun’s sweater and clapped his hands satisfied with himself. “Alright, so how are we going to close the door?”

Well they couldn’t tape it together. Even if they used  _ a lot _ of tape, as Byungchan suggested. 

Yuvin was having a nap in his closet, and he was probably the best ghoul for the job. Now they just had to decide who among them was brave or stupid enough to wake him. 

“You do it,” Seungwoo said. “It was your idea.”

“I think Byungchan should do it,” Seungyoun deflected. “He’s the baby.”

“Yuvin’s the baby,” Byungchan corrected.

“Is he? Really?” Seungyoun asked, surprised.

Seungwoo frowned. “Byungchan turned centuries before you did.”

“Oh yeah…” he said. “Then Byungchan should do it.”

“I agree,” Seungwoo said. 

“Wait a minute! Seungwoo is the oldest! Why should it be me?”

“Because you’re the baby,” Seungyoun and Seungwoo said.

As they walked back into their apartment towards Jinhyuk and Yuvin’s room, Byungchan kept looking back at them suspiciously. “I am not very good at math, but something here seems off.”

“No, it’s fine,” Seungyoun assured him. “We worked it out.”

“Oh okay,” he said. Before they got to the room, Byungchan stopped. “How about we play rock paper scissors instead?”

Seungyoun looked at Seungwoo who raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah, sure,” they said.

Byungchan smiled brightly. “Yes!”

_ Rock. Paper. Scissors. _

Byungchan frowned. “No!”

Seungyoun and Seungwoo both held out flat hands against Byungchan’s tightly balled fist. It wasn’t their fault if he chose rock  _ every single time.  _

Byungchan shook his head. 

“I’m not doing it!” He whispered. “Never!”

“You have to,” Seungwoo insisted. “We won fair and square.”

“It was  _ not  _ fair or square,” Byungchan pouted. “I don’t want to!”

Jinhyuk’s bedroom door opened, and Yuvin stood in the doorway looking quite unamused. “What are you guys shouting about?”

“Oh good you’re awake,” Seungyoun said. “We need your help.”

Yuvin sleepily rubbed his eyes and mumbled, “with what?”

“We gotta close the door,” Seungyoun said.

“What door,” Yuvin asked with a yawn.

“Apartment 211,” Seungwoo said.

Yuvin looked at them both and nodded. “Let me get dressed.”

Jinhyuk had a difficult time focusing at work again. He had been doing a pretty good job of convincing himself he was okay with everything, but seeing Seungwoo so shaken that morning absolutely unnerved him. He was the rock of the  _ family,  _ but he wasn’t immune to the dangers on the Other Side. None of them were. He should have known that the moment a single snag of a harpy’s talon was enough to put Byungchan down for a few days, but for some reason he still thought that Seungwoo was invincible. 

The truth was that no one was invincible, and that meant that he needed to help find a way to make them safe. All of them. But how was he supposed to do that as a simple barista.

It had been a busy morning, and he was able to throw himself into roasting beans and steeping tea bags. But every so often, Seungwoo’s face would appear in a cup of coffee or the reflection of a pane of glass, and Jinhyuk’s heart would drop. 

He had been so frightened. The color had drained completely from his face, and his eyes darted around following invisible horrors that haunted him. Jinhyuk had seen them before. They were formless beings with gnashing sharp teeth and flickering tongues that whispered horrible things into the very depths of his mind.  _ Don’t look. They’re not real.  _

The only way to make them stop was to believe they weren’t there, but what if they were? What if the horrors they had seen were always there but only revealed to them by the sightless shadow people. What if that was what death was? A gnashing, hungry Hell championed by fragments and shadows.

He would get Seungwoo out of there. It didn’t matter that they were dead too, they didn’t belong there. They were just as much real people as the sleepy office workers who came in looking for a fix or the two thorns in Jinhyuk’s side who were always at the cafe when they should have been at school were.

Jinwoo was an angel so that wasn’t fair at all to say about him, but Dongpyo certainly had a vendetta against him. He was the troublemaker. If Jinhyuk didn’t know any better, he was sure that Dongpyo was trying to get him fired. But that day he was being nice.  _ Too  _ nice.

“Good morning!” Dongpyo had greeted him with too much enthusiasm. “How was your morning? Did you sleep well? How are you feeling?”

“It was fine,” Jinhyuk had lied.  _ A shadow creature that used to be a person tried to eat my friends. How are you?  _ “You’re here early.”

“Yes, we like to get an early start on our day,” Dongpyo said. “Anything for the customers!”

“Don’t you have school?” 

“We take night classes,” Jinwoo said, his mouth full with a pastry.

Dongpyo bit into a piece of bread.

“Hey, don’t eat the merchandise,” Jinhyuk scolded him.

“You didn’t say anything to him!” Dongpyo whined.

Jinwoo bounced and poked Dongpyo. “It’s because I’m the favorite.”

Dongpyo glared at him.

He was surprised that starting off his morning like that hadn’t resulted in Dongpyo pouring boiling coffee down his leg, but he guessed he had had enough bad things happen to him for one day. But then Dongpyo decided to be nosy.

“So,” he said once the crowd died down, sliding next to Jinhyuk and putting on his most charming smile. “Tell me about your friend.”

“What friend?” Jinhyuk asked. Wooseok or Seungwoo? One of them he wasn’t going to talk about.

“The good looking one you had me serve.”

“He’s too old for you,” Jinhyuk said.

“Oh, no, I just want to know more about him,” Dongpyo said, hiding is true agenda. “Like how do you know him?”

“He’s my roommate,” Jinhyuk said, taking a stack of used mugs to the sink. 

“Oh? Is that all?” Dongpyo asked, more curious.

Jinhyuk coughed. “Of course that’s all. Why do you want to know?”

“He just seemed… protective for some reason,” he said. “Why?”

“He’s like that to all of us,” Jinhyuk explained calmly, but his heart pounded at the question and his ears felt warm.  _ He is like that to all of us. It’s not just me. It’s not. _

“Why?” 

“I don’t know,” he said. “It’s just his personality, I guess.”

“Hmmm,” Dongpyo said suspicious. 

“I need to wash these,” Jinhyuk said. “Excuse me.”

Fortunately after that, Dongpyo left him alone for the rest of the day. It was busy again around lunch, and there wasn’t any time for questions about his roommate who was most certainly only protective because Jinhyuk was his friend and newest roommate. And how had he been protective for Dongpyo to notice? Maybe that was just his general energy. He did have a strong personality when they first met now that he thought about it. He probably just unsettled Dongpyo a little bit. Jinhyuk smiled to himself.  _ Good. _

At the end of his shift, he took the train and the bus home. He missed riding in a car. He didn’t have to worry about missing stops or getting delayed. He could just stare out of the window while pretending that Seungwoo wasn’t trying to run over every pedestrian in the city. Sometimes they talked, which was nice. Sometimes they didn’t, and that was nice too. It wasn’t loud and congested the way public transit was, and he missed it a lot.

To no one’s surprise at all, the neighborhood was still red. He hunkered down against the wind chill, but there was a part of him that fought the eerie feeling that he was being watched. That was impossible. No one could come there. If it wasn’t for the occasional incident with dead things in the other apartment, he could have put a sleeping bag out in the middle of the road at night and no one would have bothered him. But still. Something didn’t feel right.

He made it to his apartment building in one piece and dragged his tired body up the stairs. When he reached the second floor he stopped and let out a long drawn out sigh.

Someone — or four someones — had used bricks and concrete to fill in apartment 211 on the left’s door frame to seal it from the floor to the ceiling. KEEP OUT was written in pastel sidewalk chalk, and a butterfly with a smiley face was drawn at the bottom. He shook his head and went inside. At least that was one problem taken care of.

His roommates were in the living room relaxing after spending the whole day patching up the doorway. Hopefully nothing would bust through before it fully dried. 

They were sitting around fanning themselves and sweating profusely.

“Hey, guys,” he said with caution, met with a chorus of groans. “Are you okay?”

“We’re exhausted!” Seungyoun said.

“We did manual labor,” Byungchan whined. “Oh my aching bones!”

“When is the last time you guys did anything?” He asked. 

“1865,” Seungwoo said, fanning himself. His face was the reddest of them all. “It was terrible.”

“Jesus,” Jinhyuk said. He dropped his things and headed to the kitchen. “You need to drink water. I think you need to drink water. I don’t know how ghoul bodies work, but we’re going to pretend like water helps.”

He poured two glasses of water at a time and brought them to his roommates who guzzled them down. 

“Better?”  He asked and was answered with a chorus of exhausted yesses. 

Once everyone was taken care of, he went to his room to change and discovered a new problem. He was out of clothes. 

It was about time that he ran out of clean laundry, but it was a concept that felt too  _ normal _ for that place.  _ Wow, I actually have to wash my underwear in my cursed apartment. Who knew? _

He scooped everything into a bag and slung it over his shoulder. 

“Hey, I know you guys are busy, but could someone show me where the laundry machines are?”

“I got it,” Seungwoo said. “I’m still the building owner I guess.”

“You guess,” Seungyoun echoed.

“It’s  _ mine. _ ”

“Whatever you say,” Byungchan said, fanning himself. Jinhyuk wasn’t sure what Byungchan could have done that was so tiring in his condition, but he was sure he worked hard just the same.

When Seungwoo came close to him, Jinhyuk could smell the sweat on his skin. It should have been gross, but he seemed  _ alive.  _ His hair stuck to his forehead and his clothes clung to him like he had been doused with a bucket of cold water. He seemed like a normal person, and it surprised him.

“We keep the laundry machines on the first floor,” he said as they descended the stairs. “Since we’re the only people who live here, we keep all the detergent and fabric softener down here too. Help yourself, it refills on its own.”

“H–,” Jinhyuk started, but then remembered that asking questions about how things worked was pointless. “Thanks.”

“I’ll be upstairs if you need anything,” he said. “Oh, if something doesn’t work, just ask the machine nicely. It likes to be told jokes during the rinse cycle.”

He wasn’t sure if he was kidding or not, but he wasn't taking any chances with his laundry. Seungwoo left him to it, and Jinhyuk thought that the rest was a task he could handle by himself. He filled the basin with an even layer of clothes, poured in the cleaning liquid, closed the lid, and politely asked the machine to please wash his clothes. It turned on, and he relaxed. Finally, an appliance that didn’t hate him.

He heard a crash down the hall and jumped. 

“Guys?” he called out. “Seungwoo? Are you okay?”

There was another blambing noise, and he wondered if one of his roommates needed help. “Hello? Where are you?” 

He stopped in the hall and turned his back just long enough for something heavy to attach itself to him once he wasn’t looking. He screamed and fell to the ground.

He rolled over, and a man dressed in filthy worn rags was on top of him clawing at his face and neck. His eyes were wild and black and violet, and a thick dark liquid spilled from his mouth spraying onto Jinhyuk’s work clothes. His tongue flicked towards Jinhyuk, and Jinhyuk had to use all of his strength to keep him from killing him.

“Help!” He shouted. 

He fought the rabid man who scratched and gnashed his teeth at him, but he was too heavy to push off or slide out from under. Jinhyuk was trapped.

He loosened his hand and jammed his thumb into his attacker’s eye socket as hard as he could. The man shrieked an awful sound and rolled off of him, clutching his now bleeding eye. He only had a second to get up and run, but the man was close on his tail.

Jinhyuk made it to the laundry room, but there was nowhere to hide. He couldn’t cry out for help without the crazed attacker hearing him, and the washing machine was just sitting there being unhelpful.

The attacker ran towards him with his arms stretched out. Jinhyuk grabbed the closest thing near him and swung with all of his strength. 

The fire extinguisher struck him in the temple, and he collapsed onto the ground. He twitched and sputtered, the black goo spraying from his lips and blood seeping out from where his head hit the floor. It only took seconds, but he was staring up at the water stained ceiling with lifeless eyes a normal shade of brown.

Jinhyuk dropped the extinguisher which bounced and rolled away to somewhere unseen. He covered his mouth in horror and all the air was sucked from his lungs.  _ What have I done? _

He ran up the stairs so forcefully that he almost stumbled through the structure’s weaknesses, but he didn’t care if he fell through. He had done something horrible that he couldn’t come back from. He deserved it.

“Guys!” He shouted as he burst through the door, tears stinging his eyes. “Something’s happened. I did something.”

“What is it?” Seungyoun was the first to get up. 

“I– I–,” he gasped, unable to get the words out. “Man. Blood. Please. Laundry.”

He was trembling and unable to breathe. “Oh god, what have I done?”

Seungwoo came out from his room. “What’s going on?”

Jinhyuk wailed at the sight of him. What would he think of him if he knew what he had done? He shook his head.  _ He can’t know. _

“Show us,” Seungwoo said, his voice a steady contrast against the desperation in Jinhyuk’s.

He led them down the stairs to the scene of the crime. They found his attacker still on the floor where he had left him next to the laundry machine, and blood had spread further across the concrete.

“I– I–,” he shook so violently he couldn’t speak. Seungwoo grabbed onto him to steady him, and he cried out. “I k–killed him! It was s–self d–defence! He came out of nowhere!”

“Shhhh,” he said, easing him. “It doesn’t matter okay? It’s okay.”

“It’s not okay!” He wailed. “I  _ killed  _ someone.”

Seungwoo carefully let him go and crouched down by the body where Seungyoun was squatting. He lifted up the dead man’s hands. His fingers were black at the tips and shriveled. He pulled back his lips to reveal a tongue stained a dark violet. 

“No you didn’t,” he said calmly.

“Look at him!”

“Look,” Seungwoo said. He balled his hand into a tight fist and swung down onto the man’s chest. A violet puff of smoke rose from his mouth and faded into the clean air. “He was already dead.”

“What do you mean? He was trying to kill me.”

“His body was possessed by that shadow creature from this morning, I’m guessing,” Seungyoun said, observing the body. “That’s why he could come here, and why he came after one of us.”

“I didn’t kill him?”

“Nope,” Seungwoo said. “He was probably taken early this morning.”

“It’s amazing,” Seungyoun said. “You killed it.”

“You just said–.”

“The thing possessing it is dead too,” he said. “I didn’t know they could die.”

“It was probably a weak host,” Seungwoo said. “He looks homeless and could have been sick with something. Plus your gas bomb probably made it weak.”

“Yeah,” Seungyoun said, his voice trailing off.

“What do we do? No one is going to believe I didn’t murder a homeless person!”

“We’ll take care of it,” Seungwoo said.

Jinhyuk sniffled. “How?”

Seungwoo stood up. He folded his arms across his chest and raised his eyebrows.

“Oh, right,” Jinhyuk laughed weakly. “You guys eat people. I almost forgot.”

Jinhyuk went back to his room, forgetting about his clothes. He couldn’t think of normal human things. He had done something too horrible. It didn’t matter that what he had killed was just an animated corpse. He was still a person once. He had a family maybe. He had dreams. He had a life, and Jinhyuk had been a part of what had stripped that away from him. Maybe he wasn’t what killed him first, but he felt a raging guilt that ate at him just the same.

Byungchan couldn’t go downstairs to help  _ process  _ the body, but he helped in his own way. He loaned Jinhyuk a t-shirt and a pair of shorts that weren’t covered in blood or black goo or spilled coffee. Jinhyuk changed into them gratefully and got back into bed. Byungchan who was more fond of Jinhyuk’s bed than he was, laid down next to him, and for once, Jinhyuk was glad his roommate didn’t understand the concept of personal space. 

Seungyoun and Yuvin took care of the body, he later learned. They took all the good parts and saved them in large freezer downstairs in one of the fake apartments. They wouldn’t need to find food for a few months, and Jinhyuk was happy that they wouldn’t need to take any more organs away from patients who needed them. And that meant no more trips to the Docks for a while too. 

Seungwoo opened his door and brought in his clean laundry that he had dried and folded for him.

“Thank you,” he said weakly. “You didn’t have to do that.”

“You didn’t kill anyone,” Seungwoo said quietly. Byungchan was asleep next to him, and neither wanted to wake him.

“It feels like I did.”

“I know,” Seungwoo said, unable to comfort him. “It’ll pass.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know yall don’t love it when it gets dark and sad but things happen for a reason!!! Even here!!!


	14. Cinnamon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> People aren’t quite always what they seem.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i know it’s not tuesday i am a victim of my own impulses 
> 
> THAT BEING SAID PLEASE ENJOY!

Jinhyuk’s dreams were different this time. He was in between two worlds, but he wasn’t afraid. There were no gods covered in crows or mirrored skies, but instead it was just his neighborhood. It was soaked in red, but then it was a dark violet, but then he would look again and the world glowed a brilliant white and yellow like sunlight through crystal. 

He walked around for a while by himself and admired the view. The spirits ignored him for the most part, and their scarred faces were replaced with peaceful smiles like it was supposed to be. His heart was calm, but yet it ached and he wasn’t sure why.

He sat on the curb in front of his apartment building and sighed. Even in a dream it felt wrong to stray too far from home. What if he couldn’t come back?

Someone sat next to him, and he hoped for a moment that it was Seungwoo.  _ Can you find me here too? _ But it was a man he didn’t recognize.

He was older and maybe in his sixties with a weather worn face and thinning shaggy hair. He wore a tattered blue coat that was too loose around his shoulders like he hadn’t been eating well since he got it. He took a pack of cigarettes out from his pocket and stuck one between blackened teeth before passing the box to Jinhyuk.

“No thanks,” he said. “I don’t smoke.”

The man chuckled. “I didn’t think so. What are you doing out here all by yourself?”

“Thinking,” Jinhyuk said.

“Mmm,” he said, deep in thought. “You did good, kid.”

“I killed you,” he said, he voice sounding like it came from somewhere else.

“Nahh, what you did was a mercy,” the man said, lighting his cigarette. “That thing was what killed me. You kept me from hurting somebody. You kept me from hurting you.”

“I didn’t mean to–,” he said, ready to beg for forgiveness with all of his might.

“Shhh,” the man said. He put his hand on Jinhyuk’s shoulder. “When that thing got inside of me I couldn’t stop myself. If it hadn’t been for you, I wouldn’t get to go home today.”

“Home?”

The man pointed to the hill where the god of death once stood. It glowed in a way he hadn’t noticed before. “I’m going to smoke my last cigarette and see my kids again. Maybe my dad too, if I’m lucky. If it weren’t for you, I’d be trapped here wandering around until there weren’t nowhere left to wander.”

Jinhyuk couldn’t speak. The heaviness lingered, but he couldn’t tear his eyes from the light.

_ “You did good,”  _ the man said with a gentle grin. He crushed his cigarette into the asphalt to put it out, and Jinhyuk noticed he couldn’t smell the tobacco burning. “Now, it’s time to get up. I’ve got somewhere to be. Oh, and hey kid.”

“What?”

“Live a good life.”

Jinhyuk woke in his bed, his dream long forgotten, but his heart was light and clear. Byungchan was fast asleep next to him, and he had somehow commandeered his favorite pillow. He ignored his stiff neck and checked the time on his phone. It was a little early, but he decided to get out of bed anyway. He had slept early that night and needed to get up and do something.

Because of the man he killed.

_ No, I didn’t kill him. I stopped the thing that killed him from killing someone else. Killing me. Killing my roommates. I didn’t kill him. I killed the shadow. I killed the fragment. _

Jinhyuk felt a relief that he didn’t know he was longing for. They had tried to tell him, but he was too upset to listen. He would apologize later when he saw them after he got home from work. 

Seungwoo had finished his laundry for him, and he would have to make it up to him for that too. He decided that he would buy them all two big bags of jerky. No, he would have to buy all the flavors the convenience store had for them to try. 

He headed to the bathroom for his morning shower with an extra pep to his step ready to start his day, but when he opened the door, Seungwoo was at the sink shirtless.

“Oops! Sorry, I should have knocked,” Jinhyuk apologized. “I didn’t know anyone would be awake. What are you doing…”

Seungwoo was poking at his abdomen with a tiny pair of tweezers, and his body was turned just enough that Jinhyuk couldn’t see why. He sighed. “I’m trying to take my stitches out.”

“Stiches?” Jinhyuk pulled the door shut and walked towards him. “What happened?”

“I kind of got stabbed a little bit I guess,” he said.

Jinhyuk frowned and bent over to look at Seungwoo’s messy stitches. 

“A little bit?? You guess?? I–,” he started.

“You don’t have to say it,” Seungwoo sighed. “I already got an earful from Byungchan.”

“I was just going to say to let me help you.”

“You don’t have to–.”

“Lean against the counter and try to keep still.”

Seungwoo didn’t argue. Jinhyuk took some of the latex gloves off of the counter and put them on his hands for safety. 

“Did you sterilize these?” He held up the tweezers.

“Don’t need to,” Seungwoo smiled.

“Oh, right,” Jinhyuk laughed. “I forgot.”

He squatted down and carefully removed the tiny pieces of thread from Seungwoo’s healed wound. “Does this hurt?”

“Not really,” he said, not looking at him. “I didn’t get a chance to talk to you about it last night, but I think I should take you to work from now on.”

“You don’t have to,” Jinhyuk said, hand trembling. He took a breath and steadied himself for his task. “I don’t mind taking the bus.”

“It’s for safety,” he said. “I don’t think anyone should out alone anymore for a while.”

“That thing is dead, though, isn’t it?” Jinhyuk asked, pulling out the last thread. 

“Yeah, it’s dead, but just for a while, it would make me feel better if I knew everyone was safe.”

Jinhyuk nodded. “Do you think anything else will happen?”

Seungwoo thought for a moment. “Well, we have been stuck in a lunar eclipse for a couple of days. That might be a bad sign.”

“Right,” he removed the last thread and stood up. “All done!”

“Thank you,” Seungwoo said, shy. “It was taking me forever.”

“You can ask for help you know,” he said, taking off his gloves and putting the tweezers back into the medicine cabinet. 

“I know,” he blew him off.

“I mean, I, we, want to keep you safe too,” Jinhyuk’s voice shook. He looked back at Seungwoo who was staring at him with large shaking eyes. He thought for a moment that he finally broke through Seungwoo’s shell and became quiet. “Let me take care of you too.”

Seungwoo, still propped against the counter, reached out and grabbed a fistful of the shirt that surely belonged to Byungchan that Jinhyuk had borrowed the night before. He let himself be pulled to him by a weak grasp that was finally reaching out for another person.

They were close enough to each other that he wondered if Seungwoo could hear his heart pounding in his chest. He watched his gaze travel from his lips to his eyes and back and leaned forward just enough, waiting for one of them to close the space between them.

“Hey, guys,” Byungchan said, coming into the bathroom. Jinhyuk took a step back and hid his flushed face. “I heard voices and wanted to make sure everything was okay. You having a meeting?”

“I was just telling Jinhyuk that I’m going to take him to work from now on until the neighborhood gets back to normal,” Seungwoo said. 

Seungwoo lead Byungchan out before Jinhyuk could say anything. The second the door closed, leaving him inside alone, he felt himself gasp for air. He covered his face in disbelief.  _ What was that?  _

He stood under the scalding hot water trying to block out the sound of Seungwoo’s heavy breathing or his own for that matter. He could  _ not  _ have a crush on his roommate no matter how pretty or kind or protective he was. He could  _ not _ .

They left together that morning for the first time, and he wished that it had been any other day except for that one. How was he supposed to survive being trapped in the car with someone he wasn’t supposed to have feelings for? It wasn’t fair, but he also couldn’t tell Seungwoo no. He was only taking Jinhyuk incase some magic shadow demon from hell wanted to turn  _ him  _ into jerky, but he was having a lot of feelings and none of them made sense.

When they stepped outside, all of that disappeared.

The world was still red from the lingering eclipse, but which world? Because as far as Jinhyuk could tell it looked like dozens of worlds were stacked on top of each other. It was the present day, and it was the ancient kingdom from hundreds of years before. It was a bustling city, and it was a roaming countryside. Discarded farm tools from the past were dumped on the ground next to war machines used only a few decades before.

Jinhyuk and Seungwoo were both stunned.

“What is this?” Jinhyuk whispered.

“The Other Side,” he said. 

“How?!”

“I have no idea,” he said. “Let’s get to the car. There aren’t any spirits so we can probably still leave the neighborhood.”

Seungwoo bolted towards the car, and Jinhyuk followed suit. He could tell that Seungwoo was unnerved by it, but Jinhyuk himself was mystified. He wanted to stop and see every version of the world that had ever existed where he stood. When would anyone ever get the chance to see the past that wasn’t painted or photographed? He could live it all at once.

“Wake up!” Seungwoo shouted to his car. The lights turned on and the engine revved. Jinhyuk blinked, but didn’t say anything. The doors swung open on their own, and the two got in where it was safe.

“Hoo,” Seungwoo let out a breath. “That was scary.”

“Yeah,” Jinhyuk lied. “So glad your car isn’t a heavy sleeper.”

“Me too,” he said patting the steering wheel. He looked around carefully before they left, and Jinhyuk wondered what he was so afraid of. His eyes darted as he drove until they left the neighborhood, and once the world was normal again, Seungwoo relaxed. The rest of the ride was silent as they both had too much to think about for one day.

Seungwoo left Jinhyuk at work and drove home. His mind was all over the place, and it wasn’t helping his driving at all. He slammed on the brakes to avoid plowing through a stoplight and took a breath. It wouldn’t kill him if he got into an accident, but for some reason he was feeling more careful than normal like he could die. After a couple thousand years he had learned that wasn’t possible. Well it  _ was  _ possible, but a car accident couldn’t do it. He was just feeling cautious, he told himself.

He wasn’t able to park as closely to the apartment as he would have wanted. Some of the farmers’ carts and things blocked the way, and even though it may have only looked like an illusion, it was all real. It was impossible, but it was real. Whatever it was that kept the living world separate from this was falling apart, and Seungwoo was the only one of them who knew it. 

Even if both worlds couldn’t exist without their natural balance, they could never  _ coexist  _ without one devouring the other. Unfortunately, death always won.

It was time for some more answers.

Byungchan was asleep in Jinhyuk’s room. He normally slept in Seungwoo or Seungyoun’s bed, but he had taken a friendly liking to the human. Jinhyuk had accepted him well, and Seungwoo was grateful. As nice as it was to see that Byungchan was welcome to sleep where he wanted as he always had, Sleeping Beauty had to wake up.

“Hey,” Seungwoo poked him. Byungchan swatted at the air. “Wake up.”

“No,” he grumbled. 

“I’ll make you brains and eggs,” Seungwoo said sweetly.

One of Byungchan’s eyes opened. “The spicy kind?”

“Is there any other kind?”

Byungchan reluctantly crawled out of bed and followed Seungwoo to the kitchen. He sat down at the table and waited patiently trying to wake up while Seungwoo cooked for him. He stir-fried their freshly harvested protein with a spicy, sticky sauce and fried two eggs to go with it. He didn’t even try to sneak in a single vegetable. It was all part of his plan to butter Byungchan up.

He sat the plate in front of him and was thanked cutely.

“It looks delicious!” Byungchan exclaimed, unaware that he was about to be questioned. 

Seungwoo waited until Byungchan properly broke his yolk letting the warm egg spread into the hot food before slipping in his question. He was focused and content and wouldn’t care what Seungwoo was thinking.

“Can I ask you something?” 

“Sure,” he said, his mouth full of Seungwoo’s excellent cooking/bribe.

“Did Jinhyuk have any dreams last night?”

“Shouldn’t you ask him that?”

“Do you care about his privacy now?

“No,” Byungchan admitted, taking another bite of his breakfast. “But you do.”

Seungwoo glared at him. Byungchan stopped chewing.

“Is it that bad,” he asked.

“I don’t want to worry you guys,” Seungwoo said. “But I’m running out of time to fix things on my own.”

Byungchan nodded. “I want our home to be normal again. If I tell you, what’s in it for me?”

“I made you breakfast,” he said.

Byungchan smirked and clapped. “You got me there!”

“Now… what did Jinhyuk dream about?”

“Death,” he said plainly.

Seungwoo frowned.

“The good kind,” Byungchan clarified. “He got to see that dead guy move on. Which is good because he cried a lot in his sleep, and honestly it was keeping me up all night.”

Seungwoo nodded and thought for a moment as Byungchan ate, the sound of small bites the only thing he could hear other than his own breathing.

“Is that the only kind of dream you wanted to ask me about?”

“Yes,” Seungwoo lied.

Byungchan frowned and took a sip of his chocolate milk. “Do you know what you’re doing? He’s a human… he can’t stay forever like you and me...”

“No,” he admitted truthfully. “I don’t know what I’m doing at all, but I don’t know if I can stop myself.”

“Good! It might do you some good to not know everything for once,” he said cheerfully. “But how does it feel?”

“Like I’m alive.”

Jinhyuk may have hated his job once. He may have thought it was the most boring place in the world, but he was so happy to be away from animated corpses and possessed cars that he gladly welcomed every pot of coffee he poured. 

Jinwoo and Dongpyo had changed the sign again to highlight their cinnamon special drinks, and the crowd seemed to flood the cafe again.  _ Maybe they are better at drawing signs than me. _

He was up to his neck in cinnamon — cinnamon flavored coffee, cinnamon flavored tea, cinnamon flavored muffins, cinnamon flavored scones. If the cafe could put cinnamon in it, they sold it. Jinhyuk’s mouth tasted like cinammon, his clothes were covered in cinnamon, and he was pretty sure he had cinnamon up his nose. He didn’t understand the point of these sporadic promotions, and, frankly, he found them to be a little ridiculous. But at least they were normal on the grand scale of things.

“Wow, someone’s popular,” Dongpyo said. “Again.”

“Hmm?” Jinhyuk asked.

“You’ve got another visitor,” he said, disappearing somewhere.

Jinhyuk turned around expecting to see Seungwoo, but this time it was Yohan — Wooseok’s new boyfriend.

“Hey, Jinhyuk right?” the other boy said with a nervous smile that revealed his bunny front teeth.

Jinhyuk swallowed.  _ What is he doing here? _

Yohan waited politely at a table after ordering a coffee that he paid for with his own money until Jinhyuk could take a break. It wasn’t that Jinhyuk  _ wanted  _ to talk to him, but it was their first chance to and he was too curious to find out why he was there in the first place to say no.

He sat down across from him with a cup of tea on his break.

“You came to talk to me?”

“Yes, uhhh,” he chuckled. “Sorry, this isn’t funny at all. I just laugh a lot when I’m nervous.”

He laughed again, and Jinhyuk cracked a smile. “It’s fine.”

“I just wanted to apologize,” he said. “I actually wanted to come days ago, but Wooseok wouldn’t tell me where you worked. He was scared we would fight.”

Jinhyuk snorted having never fought another human being before in his life. “Ah, really?”

Yohan nodded. “So, I’m sorry. If I would have known…”’

“You didn’t know,” Jinhyuk said. “Right?”

“I swear I had no idea,” he reached across the table and pleaded, holding onto Jinhyuk’s hands. “I only found out something was weird at the gallery when your friend showed up.”

“I’m sorry you had to find out like that,” Jinhyuk said honestly. “Are things okay with you two?”

Yohan pulled away and twisted his mouth into a regretful frown. “I don’t know if we can be now.”

Jinhyuk sighed and nodded. The guilt was going to eat away at one of them one way or another, and he had a hard time wishing that on Yohan. He didn’t know, after all.

“Do you love him?” Jinhyuk asked. Yohan looked away like he was embarrassed. Like he had done something wrong. Like something was wrong with him. “Because I don’t. Not anymore.”

Yohan looked up with wide surprised eyes. 

“I don’t see a reason why you two can’t be together if you want to be,” he said. “That doesn’t have anything to do with me.”

“Are you sure?”

Jinhyuk nodded and drank from his cup, burning his lips that had been numb since morning. “I’m fine with it. Just be happy and healthy and take care of each other.”

“Thank you,” Yohan said, letting Jinhyuk’s blessing absorb slowly and carefully. He realized that if had to weigh a bad break up with the end of the world, Wooseok didn’t stand a chance at bothering him. He was just another person destined to find the place within too many places. Finally, Jinhyuk’s heart was free. “I’m glad you have that Seungwoo guy now.”

“Seungwoo? Don’t tell Wooseok this, but he's just my roommate. He was faking it.”

Yohan waved him off. “If he was faking it, he only would have been like that when someone was looking.”

They talked for a bit after that, and Jinhyuk decided that he  _ really _ liked Yohan. Like if they had met under different circumstances, he would have been like a little brother to him. He was bright, cheerful, humble, and apparently good at everything. He balanced well with Wooseok who was grumpy, needy, sometimes vain, and especially sensitive. He wouldn’t mind it if the two of them became friends, actually, but his break was over and he had to get back to work.

Before sending Yohan off, he asked him for a favor.

“Can you tell Wooseok I’ll be by to get my things tomorrow,” he said. “I won’t be there long, but I need my clothes.”

“Sure!” Yohan said. “Sorry…”

“No, it’s fine,” Jinhyuk laughed. “I wouldn’t come by, but it seems I’ve ruined half of the ones I packed already.”

Yohan looked at him confused, but there was no way Jinhyuk could even begin to explain.

Seungwoo left early to pick Jinhyuk up from work, worried that if he was late for some reason, Jinhyuk would forget about him and take the bus back. The neighborhood was darkening too early to blame on the setting sun, and every hair on his body stood up. Something wasn’t right, and he was glad no one was around to see him run to his car.  _ I’m scared because it’s scary not because I’m a coward.  _

Truthfully, Seungwoo was the only one who knew how bad the Other Side was. Not the good part of it or even the curious part, but the part where trapped souls weren’t allowed to leave. That was the point of being trapped for eternity. You couldn’t leave. 

There were theories that those souls deserved to be there, and that their own hatred tied them down like an unshakable anchor, but he wasn’t about to take that risk. For all he knew, the world was about to be sucked inside of itself, and the vacuum was at his footsteps.

He drove to the coffee shop quickly and purposely. It wasn’t because he was scared. It wasn’t. 

Once he walked in, all of his fear melted away. It must have been the fairy magic — noted by the artwork on the new specials sign. Today it was cinnamon. He could resist because he didn’t like cinnamon that much or at all really.

Dongpyo came to greet him first, wary of his presence. Seungwoo smiled warmly. 

“I brought you something,” he said cutely, taking the sprite by surprise.

“For me? A present?”

Seungwoo pulled out a small velvet sack filled with silver coins and jingled them. Dongpyo shrieked delightedly and reached out to take the bag.

“Not so fast,” Seungwoo held the sack above his head. “Have you been playing any tricks on the human?”

Dongpyo frowned. “Not the dangerous ones.”

Seungwoo considered it. “That’s fair.”

He handed Dongpyo the bag who then opened it and gasped. 

“Where did you get these?” He asked, thrilled.

“Just some tokens I’ve been hoarding,” Seungwoo said nonchalantly. “I don’t need them anymore.”

“Which dynasty are these from? Wait don’t tell me! I don’t want to know!” Dongpyo shrieked. 

“You can share with your friend as long as he doesn’t keep poisoning Jinhyuk,” he said, bargaining. Sprites couldn’t resist silver, and those coins could have bought the world when Seungwoo was younger.

“I promise we won’t poison  _ anyone  _ ever again,” he said, scampering off to share his bounty with the other sprite. Seungwoo rubbed his hands together.  _ That should get him by for a while. _

Jinhyuk hadn’t noticed him yet which was good. He didn’t need to know that his coworkers were immortal mischievous fiends yet. It’s a good thing that he and the other ghouls couldn’t be called immortal mischievous fiends.

He approached the counter, and Jinhyuk’s head was down, focused on his order.

“Yes?” He said, pushing buttons on the screen. After Seungwoo didn’t say anything, he looked up and let out a surprised sound. “Oh! I didn’t see you there!”

A smile crept up on his face. “You don’t notice a lot, do you?”

Jinhyuk scratched his head. “I guess not. You’re early.”

“I wanted something to drink that isn’t chocolate milk,” he said.

Jinhyuk turned to look at the list of drinks the cafe had to offer.

“This tea I’ve been drinking all day is good,” he said. “Do you want to try that?”

“Sure,” Seungwoo said. 

“Coming right up!”

Jinhyuk spun around and started making Seungwoo’s tea, and he noticed how happy Jinhyuk seemed to be, submerged in his own element. Humans were interesting like that. For Jinhyuk, this task was the most important thing in the world.

“I didn’t pay you yet,” he said, reaching for his pocket.

“You don’t pay.”

“Why not?”

Jinhyuk gave him a look that said not to ask so he didn’t. Moments later he sat down with his mug and chose a spot that let him watch Jinhyuk work and gaze out the window at the same time.  _ Would anyone notice if I just spent the day here while he works? Would Jinhyuk mind? _

Seungwoo finished his tea that was indeed delicious, and Jinhyuk’s shift ended.

“You ready?” Jinhyuk asked, tired from the long day in his cafe apron and uniform that Seungwoo had dried and folded the night before.

They walked to the car together, but Seungwoo’s fears came back as he realized they would have to go back. 

“Wait,” he said. “Can we sit for a minute at the park?”

Jinhyuk said that was fine, and Seungwoo was glad that he didn’t ask questions he wasn’t ready to answer yet.

They sat together on the park bench quietly. Jinhyuk held his apron in his lap and watched the people pass by, content. 

“You smell nice,” Seungwoo blurted out.

“Thank you,” Jinhyuk brushed himself off. “It’s cinnamon.”

“I love cinnamon,” Seungwoo said dumbly. 

Jinhyuk smiled. “You could have had all the cinnamon in the world today because everyone else sure did.”

“That sign is really convincing.”

“I think Dongpyo and Jinwoo are coffee fairies,” Jinhyuk joked, and Seungwoo eyed him.  _ Really? That’s what you get right? You thought I was an organ smuggler. _

“Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, why?”

“You’re watching me, and you don’t want to go home. Did something happen?”

“No, nothing happened,” he said and took a long pause. “Can you give me some time to talk about it? I’m not ready…”

Jinhyuk smiled softly. “I’m here for you okay. Whenever you’re ready.”

He reached across the bench and gave Seungwoo’s hand a light squeeze, and it was the warmest sensation he had ever felt.

Then he forgot he was afraid until they reached their neighborhood. Once they were close, even Jinhyuk looked uneasy.

“This is bad isn’t it,” he said quietly.

“You weren’t scared before,” Seungwoo pointed out. 

“It was different before. This feels… wrong.”

Seungwoo nodded. He drove slowly and carefully, afraid of what would happen if the car made an unwanted sound.

“I can’t park close,” he said, quietly. “We should walk carefully.”

Jinhyuk nodded, understanding that he shouldn’t speak. 

They parked about a block away from the apartment because of all the junk in the road. He didn’t want to risk running something over that could draw attention from whatever it was that filled him with dread.

They kept close, taking careful steps and clinging on to each other. Both were terrified, and he was glad he didn’t have to explain why. Jinhyuk could sense it too. 

They were halfway there when a crow cawed and startled Jinhyuk. He stumbled backwards onto a stray pile of metal tools sending a loud echoing reverb through the neighborhood. Seungwoo grabbed him and put his finger to his own mouth. Jinhyuk closed his eyes and held his breath, shaking. They waited until the echo stopped even though it felt like it never would.

Seungwoo let out his own breath and relaxed. Nothing was there.

A swarm of shadows burst through the door of a nearby building, sending splintering wooden planks into the air. The shadows screeched and came after them like it hunted for life.

“Run!” Seungwoo shouted. 

The two ran, the shadows on their tails. Jinhyuk and Seungwoo were separated by the old military equipment, and he feared the worst.

“Jinhyuk!” He shouted.

“Get inside!” The other boy called out.

“Where are you!”

He spotted Jinhyuk in the distance, leading the shadows away from the apartment.  _ I’m going to kill him! _

Seungwoo ran after them. There was no way Jinhyuk could out run it. No one could.

“Ya!” He shouted, throwing a nearby paint can at the creature once he was close enough. It shrieked and hissed and turned towards him, enraged.

Seungwoo turned and ran. If Jinhyuk didn’t do anything stupid and terrible, Seungwoo could have given him enough time to get inside with the others where it couldn’t reach them.

But then Seungwoo’s shoe snagged a hole in the asphalt, and he tumbled to the ground, scraping his knees and elbows. The pain stung, and he landed on his back. When he pushed himself up, the sightless shadow amalgamation seized him.  _ Don’t let it touch you. _

He crawled backwards in terror, but the visions clouded his mind. It was ripping him apart and dangling the pieces before him to see, but it wasn’t real. It wasn’t. He just had to force himself to see that it wasn’t real. He blinked and saw Jinhyuk rush towards him. 

_ No! _ He wanted to shout.  _ Get back! _

His lips were sealed tightly shut, and all he could do was sob through the fear for the both of them.  _ Please, go back. I can’t watch them take you. _

The shadows were close. He could hear their voices calling for him to join them. What if he did? Would it all stop? Is that what they wanted?

He closed his eyes to shake off the illusion and opened them again just enough to see Jinhyuk grab a farmer’s sickle off of the wagon. He swung with all of his strength at the darkness, and it vanished all at once with an ear shattering scream. 

Seungwoo’s visions disappeared with it, and all he could see was Jinhyuk standing above him gripping the sickle with ghostly white knuckles. His eyes were a blood curdling black, and he was covered in sweat and panting with a desperation that wasn’t human.

With horror, a single word came to mind that Seungwoo hadn’t thought of in centuries. It was a word that was powerful enough to make the dead run in fear and the undead speak in whispers. 

It was a word he never wanted to think of. Not like this. His heart pounded in his throat as the word grew louder in his head unable to be pushed out. He was overcome.

_ Reaper. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS MOMENT FOR SO LONG!!!! IVE BEEN HOLDING THIS IN FOR MONTHS!!! MONTHS YALL OH MY GOD I AM FREE 😭 WOOOO
> 
> as always thank you for reading it means the world to me


	15. Don’t Fear the Reaper

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reaper Jinhyuk takes everyone by surprise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> song title is from don’t fear the reaper by blue oyster cult because I’m OBVIOUS 
> 
> oh i had to rewrite this a dozen times because i wanted to get it right please enjoy

Jinhyuk tossed the farm tool off to the side, the wood and metal clanking carelessly against the concrete. He ran to Seungwoo and dropped to his knees, pulling him into his arms, tears streaming down his own cheeks as he held his quivering roommate to his chest.

“You’re okay,” Jinhyuk said, his voice shaking with a mixture of adrenaline, fear, and something else entirely. He stroked the back of Seungwoo’s head, holding him close so that the visions couldn’t find him. “You’re okay.”

Seungwoo grabbed his shirt, and he thought he was going to pull him closer the way he did before, but instead he pushed himself away. He looked at Jinhyuk in horror, and for a moment he wondered if it was he that Seungwoo was really afraid of.

Seungwoo gasped for air and crawled back. “You! You can’t be!”

Jinhyuk, startled, pushed himself away too to give him some space. “Seungwoo, it’s me. Everything’s okay.”

“No! You!” he gasped and cried out in a way that made Jinhyuk’s blood run cold. “Reaper!”

_ “What?” _

“Please,” Seungwoo pleaded, shaking. “I’m not ready. I’m not ready to die.”

Jinhyuk scrambled to him and threw his arms around him again, convinced that the visions the shadow amalgamation had forced inside of Seungwoo’s head still held their grip on his mind. 

“It’s me,” he whispered. “I’m not going to hurt you. I would never hurt you.”

Seungwoo let out a weak sound that was almost like a whimper, and his body went limp as if he had given up.

“If I ever try to hurt you, you can just eat me,” Jinhyuk said softly, and Seungwoo snorted, snapping out of it.

He let himself be held for a moment and calmed down.

“The visions must have been pretty bad,” Jinhyuk said, letting go.

“No, they weren’t,” he said to Jinhyuk’s surprise. “I had them under control.”

“Then why…”

“Because you killed it,” Seungwoo said, burying his head in his hands to try to make sense of everything.

“So?”

“You  _ can’t  _ kill them,” he stressed. “ _ You  _ can’t kill them.  _ I  _ can’t kill them.  _ God  _ or whoever it is playing puppet master with us right now can’t fucking kill them.”

Jinhyuk looked at him more confused than ever. “So it’s not dead? It’s coming back?”

Seungwoo sighed and shook his head. “It’s gone. You  _ reaped  _ it.”

“That’s impossible,” he said. 

“Oh? More impossible than your roommates being immortal creatures who eat dead people or your coworkers being bored fairy spirits who have nothing better to do than make coffee all day,” Seungwoo asked, a little more harshly than he meant to. 

“My what?”

“Do you have any overwhelming desires to cut my head off,” Seungwoo asked, exhausted.

“No,” Jinhyuk answered, puzzled as to why he would ever get those kinds of feelings ever in his life.

“Good,” he said, standing up. Seungwoo brushed himself off. He was scraped up pretty badly from the fall, and Jinhyuk wanted to ask if he was okay but it didn’t seem like a good time. “Grab your stick and come inside. We’ll sort this out.”

“My stick?”

Seungwoo pointed to the sickle on the ground. “That thing.”

Jinhyuk shrugged and did what he was told, but the second he grabbed the wooden handle, something happened. 

The sky above them darkened with black swirling clouds that blocked out the eclipsed sun. He could smell the scent of rain hitting the asphalt before it reached where they were, and lightning cracked somewhere in the distance.

The tool in his hands transformed into something that felt like it belonged to him. The broken, chipping handle rotten with age twisted and stretched into a smooth long wooden rod with runes he had never seen before etched into the side that curved where he gripped it. The blade curled outwards into a perfect arch with an edge sharper than any tool made in the living realm. He saw his own reflection in its side and couldn’t recognize himself. 

He looked up at Seungwoo whose clothes clung to him from the rain accentuating his broad torso. His drenched hair framed his face, and he looked at Jinhyuk with a lingering sadness that cut through him a dagger through the heart.

Jinhyuk looked up to the sky as the rain poured down on him washing over him like a ritual where he was being anointed by something he couldn’t see and then back down at the blade. He didn’t feel like himself anymore.

“What the fuck,” Jinhyuk said, holding the scythe in his hands.

Seungwoo threw his hands in the air. “I told you! Reaper! Now what are we going to do?!”

Jinhyuk’s lip quivered as he tore his eyes away from his own reflection. He was ready to have another mental breakdown.

“No, no, no,” Seungwoo said, rushing towards him but stopping in his tracks afraid of the weapon in his hands. “Don’t cry. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to yell at you. This isn’t your fault.”

Jinhyuk sniffled.

“There, there,” Seungwoo said in a way that most people would have accompanied with a gentle pat if they weren’t standing a car’s length away.

“I was so scared it was going to hurt you… I didn’t mean to…” he tried to apologize for ruining everything, but the right words wouldn’t come out. He didn’t mean to screw everything up like this. Now his dearest friend couldn’t even stand close to him.

“I know,” Seungwoo said, rubbing his neck like he was getting a headache. “Let’s go inside. Bring that with you, but try not to cut me with it. We can’t leave it out here I don’t want that getting into the wrong hands.”

“I thought you said that nothing could come out here,” Jinhyuk said.

“I thought a lot of things.”

Jinhyuk followed Seungwoo back to the apartment at a safe distance. He didn’t like walking alone. He didn’t like being that far away from him, but it was what Seungwoo needed to feel safe so he endured it.

The road filled up soon with water that soaked his socks and shoes, but what did it matter? What minor annoyance could bother him now?

Seungwoo was quiet, lost in his own thoughts. He  _ was  _ afraid of him. It wasn’t the shadows at all, but Jinhyuk that terrified him. Jinhyuk wasn’t dangerous. He would even consider becoming a vegetarian. Maybe. He would have to think about. But the point was that he wasn’t dangerous at all. And he especially wouldn’t hurt Seungwoo or the others, not in a million years.

Seungwoo trudged in the rain ahead of him, limping slightly from his fall. They had run too far from the building to get away from the shadowy monstrosity that Jinhyuk had killed, and the longer they walked, the more tired he felt. It didn’t really feel like he had killed anything. He didn’t feel like a murderer. He was just tired.

He walked with the scythe’s blade slung over his shoulder so he couldn’t accidentally hurt Seungwoo with it. It was surprisingly lightweight for such a big ominous thing, and he became quite used to it being there — that was until he had to get through the door and snagged it on the frame, snatching him backwards.

Seungwoo, halfway up the stairs turned back at the commotion and eyed him. “You good?”

“Yeah,” Jinhyuk laughed nervously. “I forgot I was holding it.”

“Already?!”

He paused. “Yeah.”

Seungwoo shook his head and helped Jinhyuk get through the door, both extremely mindful of the blade. Jinhyuk muttered an awkward thank you and followed him back up the stairs. Even the wallpaper seemed to shy away from him. He didn’t like any bit of this. Even his home didn’t want him there.

Seungwoo opened the door and entered first, and no one seemed to notice them until Jinhyuk entered and was greeted with a chorus of shrieks and screams of terror from his three unsuspecting ghoulish roommates. 

“Reaper!” 

“Run!”

“Shit he’s coming for us!”

Jinhyuk let out an exhausted sigh.

“Guys, it’s just Jinhyuk,” Seungwoo shouted over them. “Cut it out!”

Seungyoun, Byungchan, and Yuvin stopped screaming, but all of them took cover, still terrified.

“What’s going on?” Seungyoun asked, crouched behind the kitchen counter. 

“Jinhyuk leveled up,” Seungwoo said.

“Bro!” Yuvin shouted. “How could you?!”

“It wasn’t my idea!” Jinhyuk cried out. “Why in the  _ world _ would I ever do this on purpose?! I’m just a barista!”

“That just means you’re a reaper with a day job!” Seungyoun shouted.

“That’s  _ worse!”  _ Yuvin chimed in.

Everyone was upset. Jinhyuk was still on the verge of cracking like a hard boiled egg. Seungwoo was torn between being terrified himself and doing damage control, and the other ghouls were frightened for their lives. It wasn’t their fault, though. The reaper, as it turned out, was a ghoul’s only natural predator except for perhaps a mob of well armed, angry villagers. That was something that a certain field guide also failed to mention.

“I think we all need to calm down and have a family meeting,” Seungwoo said.

“Good idea,” Byungchan said. “Jinhyuk, you go stand outside.”

Jinhyuk bit his lip, feeling like he had been punched in the gut. 

_ Right, I’m not family. _

He propped his scythe on the wall and turned to go outside, but Seungwoo reached out and grabbed his arm. He didn’t look away from the others, but his hand slid down and took Jinhyuk’s so that he couldn’t leave.

_ “Byungchan,” _ Seungwoo warned.

Byungchan shrank behind the couch. “I didn’t mean it like that...”

“We’re all just a little on edge right now,” Seungwoo said calmly. “Jinhyuk isn’t going to hurt any of us.  _ Right?” _

He eyed Jinhyuk nervously which hurt in a different way. “I promise. I wouldn’t do that to you guys. I don’t even know what a reaper is.”

“Does this mean Jinhyuk’s moving out,” Seungyoun asked, dealing another blow.

“Why would it?” Seungwoo said. He gave Jinhyuk’s hand a squeeze, and Jinhyuk thought he was going to throw up. “He’s not going anywhere.”

“But the contract was for a human right,” Yuvin asked.

“Ah!” Seungwoo said. “Of course! You’ll need to sign a new contract. I almost forgot!”

“The contract?” Jinhyuk asked. 

“Yeah,” Seungyoun said, brushing himself off as if he hadn’t been the loudest screamer in the room. “Your lease was for a normal human lifespan, but clearly that’s not going to work anymore.”

It wasn’t the fact that he had signed a contract to live there for the rest of his  _ life  _ that bothered him — or even the fact that all of them had refused to  _ tell him _ that he couldn’t leave. It was something else that had been eating away at the back of his mind from the second that he saw himself reflected back from a weapon that shouldn’t have been allowed to touch his hands.

“Am I dead?” Jinhyuk asked quietly, a stark contrast from all of the shouting that had filled their small apartment only moments before.

Seungwoo looked at him with soft eyes. He shook his head, but even he couldn’t be sure.

Seungyoun stood up and approached him first. He had a pained expression on his face and leaned in towards him. Jinhyuk wondered what he was about to do. He took a deep breath.

“You don’t smell dead,” Seungyoun said, giving the air around him a second sniff.

“Byungchan?” Seungwoo called.

Byungchan raised his head above the couch but didn’t budge. “Yes?”

“Can you check, please?”

Byungchan carefully walked towards him like a scared animal. They all walked on glass around him, and it broke his heart more than anything else ever had. He touched Jinhyuk’s cheek and tilted his head. “No, he’s not dead.”

Jinhyuk let out a breath, and he could have hugged all of them. If it was under a different circumstance, they probably wouldn’t have minded. 

It was Seungwoo’s turn to see for himself. He took Jinhyuk’s face in his hands. His palms were warm against his skin, and he wondered if all ghouls were this warm or if it was just Seungwoo. He looked in each of his eyes and breathed a breath of relief, satisfied. “You’re not dead.”

“I’m not?” 

“No, but I think your clock may have stopped a while ago,” Seungwoo said. 

“What do you mean?” 

“It’s just a feeling,” he said, and that was the end of that. It would take more than a discussion between the five of them to know for sure what had happened to Jinhyuk and when exactly it had happened.

Jinhyuk took his scythe to his room and placed it in the corner where most people would have stuck a lamp or a poster. He guessed that meant no more bed sharing with Byungchan, and he was surprised by how sad that made him too. Everything was sad now. At least when he was sad at his old apartment it was just because his boyfriend was having an affair with his handsome college student model person and not because Jinhyuk was a  _ threat. _

But did he regret it? 

He sat on the side of his bed and thought about it. He didn’t have to think at all to know he didn’t. Seungwoo was alive because he was able to kill something that only he could kill. What was a reaper anyways? There was no law that said he had to go around harvesting souls like some kind of Halloween store monster. 

What if being a reaper meant that he could keep his family safe? Even if they didn’t consider him their family anymore, they were still his family. Love didn’t have to be requited. He could give it to whomever he wanted to, and for now that meant his cursed roommates would have to be on the receiving end whether they liked it or not.

He heard a knock on his door followed by Byungchan’s head peeping through the crack. It was unusual for him to knock, but Jinhyuk guessed that things would be a different kind of usual from then on.

“Can I come in?” he asked.

“Of course,” Jinhyuk said. “You rent the airspace after all.”

He didn’t mean to sound so bitter.

“I guess I deserved that,” Byungchan said. He sat down on the edge of the bed next to him. “I’m sorry for what I said.”

“It’s fine,” Jinhyuk said, scared he would cry again, and he was sick of crying all the time. It wasn’t his fault he was born with a lot of feelings, and lately none of them made sense.

“No, it’s not,” he said. “I can hear you, you know. Seungwoo tries to tell me not to listen, but sometimes I can’t help it. Like now your thoughts are too loud, and I can’t tune them out.”

“Sorry…”

“No,  _ I’m  _ sorry,” Byungchan insisted. “You said you saved Seungwoo’s life?”

Jinhyuk nodded. “There was a big shadow thing. It was like twice our size, and it was chasing Seungwoo, and Seungwoo fell, and I grabbed the first thing I could get my hands on to hit it with, and now everything is ruined.”

Byungchan gave him a big hug that he hadn’t expected at all.

“What?”

“You’re still the same Jinhyuk who was scared of Pumpkin in the bathroom,” Byungchan said holding him the way a child held a new puppy. “And I know how you feel about him. He’s special. We couldn’t survive without him.”

“Without the snake?” Jinhyuk asked, surprised.

“No,” Byungchan said softly.

Jinhyuk’s eyes widened as his stomach dropped.

“It’s okay,” he continued. “You don’t have to say it.”

“Byungchan?” Jinhyuk said quietly.

“Yeah?”

“Please stop reading my thoughts.”

“Okay,” he said, giving him one last squeeze.

The next morning Jinhyuk woke up early to go to work, careful not to wake Byungchan who, as it turned out, probably wouldn’t have given up his bed even if Jinhyuk had rigged it with sharpened knives. He didn’t imagine Seungwoo would want to take him to work again, but he was in the living room reading a book under a single lamp light ready to go.

“You’re up early,” Jinhyuk said, sitting down on the couch and having some time to kill since this meant he probably wasn’t going to need to take the bus.

Seungwoo nodded and set his book on the table. It was too dark for him to see the cover, and he wondered what kind of books Seungwoo liked to read after a couple thousand years of wandering around. “I couldn’t sleep.”

“Is it because of me,” Jinhyuk frowned, his stomach in knots. 

“Partly,” he admitted. “Among other things.”

“I can take the bus today,” he said. “I’m sure you all want some space, and you’re probably tired.”

“No, that’s not it. There’s a lot I couldn’t tell anyone before, and now I’m worried that I didn’t know as much as I thought I did in the first place.”

“It’s okay to be wrong,” Jinhyuk said. “It’s okay to ask for help.”

“That’s what you all keep reminding me.”

“Then isn’t now a good time to start?”

Seungwoo gave him a tired smile. “Maybe.”

They sat quietly for a while. It wasn’t time to leave yet, and Jinhyuk didn’t have an appetite. He hadn’t properly had an appetite in days, now that he thought about it. Stress did not suit him at all.

He watched Seungwoo in a way that would have been weird if it was anyone else. It wasn’t okay to stare openly at people, but this felt different. He felt like it would have been a disservice to look away. It was the best conversation he never had.

“You should go back to bed,” Jinhyuk insisted. “You’re exhausted.”

Seungwoo shook his head. “I’m not that tired, really.”

“Then don’t pick me up this afternoon, okay? I have to go by my old apartment and get my things.”

“Where Wooseok lives?”

“Mhm. Yohan came by the coffee shop to apologize for a bunch of stuff that wasn’t his fault, and I told him I’d be over today. Consider that chapter closed.”

“I’ll take you.”

“You don’t have to do that,” he said. “I’m not afraid of him embarrassing me anymore.”

Seungwoo furrowed his brows.  _ “I’m going.” _

Jinhyuk cracked a smile. “Are you going to try to scare him?”

“Maybe,” Seungwoo said, brushing his hair from his eyes. 

“You don’t have to do that.”

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t care anymore.”

Jinhyuk was so happy to be back at work. He realized there was nothing in the world he would rather do than make coffee. It was like there was a supernatural force compelling him to make coffee for people, and then he froze.

_ What did Seungwoo say about Dongpyo and Jinwoo? Fairies? Coffee? Bored? Oh my god. _

“Jinhyuk,” Dongpyo said, shaking his arm. “Are you okay?”

“Why do you work here,” Jinhyuk demanded, a little out of his mind.

Dongpyo stepped back, startled. “Because it’s fun?”

_ “Why is it fun?” _

“I think you need to take tomorrow off… I’ll go ahead and put it on the calendar,” Dongpyo walked away, looking over his shoulder like Jinhyuk was about to snap in the middle of the cafe.

“Is he allowed to do that?” Jinhyuk whispered to himself. “Oh my god, I’m losing my mind.”

Jinwoo brought him a mug of his favorite tea. He thanked him and poured it down the drain.

“Why did I do that,” Jinhyuk asked. “I’m so sorry.”

Jinwoo looked at the liquid pouring down the sink and sighed. 

“Cut it out!” Dongpyo shouted. “If the pretty one finds out, he won’t bring us anymore coins.”

Jinhyuk looked back and forth at the two trainees, quite confused. “What?”

_ “Sorry,”  _ Jinwoo pouted. “I’ll go get the right tea.”

On second thought, maybe he didn’t need to be at the cafe either.

Seungwoo came early again, and there was something different about him. Maybe he had finally gotten some rest, but he looked refreshed and energized. Then Jinhyuk remembered the buffet they had in a freezer on the first floor and wondered if he had splurged. He didn’t know much about ghoul diets, but he knew that Seungwoo always took whatever portion was left after the others had already eaten and that probably wasn’t healthy. He would have to do his part to make sure that they had enough food, and at the thought, he shivered.  _ I’ve only been a reaper for a day. What am I doing? _

Dongpyo brought him a drink, and he wondered when they had gotten so close.  _ The pretty one won’t bring us anymore coins.  _ Was he talking about Seungwoo? There was suddenly a lot Jinhyuk was becoming aware of all at once, and he felt like his roommate really did know more than he was able to say.

He finished his shift and stopped by Seungwoo’s table. 

“You ready?”

“Yeah, let me take my glass back,” he said, standing up with a big stretch. “I think Dongpyo knew I was stressed because I could take a long nap right about now.”

“I’ll get it,” Jinhyuk reached to take the empty glass, but Seungwoo snatched it back and shook his head. “Wait how do you know Dongpyo?”

“I can clean up after myself,” he insisted. “Especially since I’m not paying. And I just met him the other day.”

“Then how?”

“Haven’t you noticed how friendly I am?” He batted his eyelashes playfully. “Look how cute they are.”

Jinhyuk looked back at the trainees and scratched his head. “I guess.”

“Has the quiet one tried to poison you lately?”

“Tried to  _ what?” _

Jinwoo eyed them from across the cafe and waved shyly. Seungwoo squinted his eyes at him, and Jinwoo ducked behind Dongpyo who waved brightly with an inconspicuous smile from ear to ear like they hadn’t done anything wrong at all. Seungwoo shook his head and chuckled to himself. “Alright, let’s go get your things.”

Everything was different. It was like Wooseok had completely purged any trace of him from their formerly shared space. He guessed being a successful artist had its perks. He wondered how many of his paintings had he sold that Seungwoo hadn’t personally stollen out of spite. Jinhyuk smiled to himself. He hated seeing that ugly painting of himself on the wall every day, but it was so satisfying knowing that Wooseok would never see it again. After he gathered his belongings, he would never see him again either — unless for some cursed reason he decided to stop by the cafe which would have just been plain petty at that point.

Wooseok had taken the liberty of shoving his games, comic books, movies, and Frozen figurines into a big box labeled “roommate” as if he was fooling anyone. Yohan shrugged apologetically and helped him carry it down the stairs along with a box of toiletries and other essentials he wasn’t able to shove into his backpack the night he ran out heartbroken just to sleep overnight at a sauna where a very sweaty man proceeded to tell him all the benefits of joining the army while he was still young.

The rest of his clothes fit into a large garbage bag, and everything fit comfortably in the back of Seungwoo’s car.

Seungwoo and Yohan were upstairs looking for the last box, and it was just Jinhyuk and Wooseok outside waiting.

“Thanks for being so civil about this,” Wooseok said. “I know it must be hard on you.”

Jinhyuk laughed. “I just want the rest of my clothes. This is nothing.”

“I know what I meant to you,” Wooseok said with a false pitiful expression that Jinhyuk would have gladly wiped off for him. “You don’t have to act brave around me.”

“I’m not acting,” he said.

“Pretending to date your roommate to make me jealous? It’s embarrassing.”

”Pretending your boyfriend was your roommate so that you didn’t have to tell Yohan you were cheating on me?” Jinhyuk snapped back. “Wait, doesn’t that mean you were cheating on him too?”

Jinhyuk noticed the car rolling forward. He slowly walked in front of it and sat on the hood to keep it from running Wooseok over. He folded his arms across his chest casually.

“Yohan is a great guy,” Jinhyuk said. “He doesn’t deserve you. Really.”

Wooseok scoffed and rolled his eyes.  _ “Please.” _

Before he could say anything, Yohan and Seungwoo came down the stairs together laughing and having a great time which annoyed the shit out of Wooseok. 

“Thanks, man,” Seungwoo said patting him on the shoulder. “Next time you’ll have to show me how to use that big exercise machine. I’m out of shape these days.”

Yohan squeezed his arm and made an impressed sound and giggled shyly. “You? You’re built like a boulder.”

Jinhyuk smiled brightly at Wooseok who was absolutely fuming. 

“What took you guys so long?” Wooseok asked, red faced.

“I was just showing Jinhyuk’s– nevermind,” Yohan’s face dropped at seeing the mood his boyfriend was in. Jinhyuk didn’t mind that at all anymore. He could have him.

Seungwoo looked at Jinhyuk sitting on the hood of his car and raised an eyebrow. Jinhyuk closed his eyes and sighed, shaking his head.  _ Don’t ask. _

“I think that’s everything then,” Jinhyuk said, standing up and hoping that the car wouldn’t throw itself into drive. “Thanks for your help, Yohan.”

“Anytime! We should hang out!” Yohan said cheerfully, earning a simmering glare from Wooseok.

Seungwoo walked around to the driver’s side, and the two humans didn’t see the door open for him before he even touched it. Jinhyuk smiled to himself, buzzing off of something new.  _ Normal is so boring. _

As they drove away, Jinhyuk couldn’t wipe the giddy expression off of his face.

“What is it?” Seungwoo asked, amused.

“Nothing,” he laughed. “Can we stop by a convenience store before we get to the neighborhood? I want to pick up everyone some jerky.”

It didn’t take more than five seconds after seeing the jerky in his hands for his three most terrified roommates to forget they were afraid of him in the first place. Everything was normal again. It was better than normal. He didn’t feel like a garbage human anymore, but maybe that was because he wasn’t human anymore at all. He didn’t know for sure, but he guessed that no one could.

He brought his things up by himself, because despite Seungwoo’s superb acting, he really  _ could not  _ handle physical labor. One way or another, Jinhyuk was getting his ghouls to the gym because this was pathetic. Seungwoo collapsed on the couch and dramatically fanned himself. Byungchan watched over him like a doting mother, and Jinhyuk couldn’t believe them. How did they make it this long without dying from exhaustion? He had never met four more successful couch potatoes in his life.

“I’m dying,” Seungwoo said dramatically. “I lifted a box.”

“It was filled with toothpaste and soap,” Jinhyuk said, not feeling the least bit sorry for him. 

“There were stairs,” he pouted.

“I can’t wait to tell Dongpyo and Yohan that their hero is so sad and puny,” Jinhyuk teased. 

“It could be worse,” Seungwoo said, throwing his arm over his eyes. 

“How?”

“I could have been reborn as Wooseok. He didn’t do anything other than be snarky.”

Jinhyuk gasped playfully and knew he shouldn’t talk bad about him behind his back, but he had it coming.

Jinhyuk set up his belongings in his room, and it finally felt like his for the first time. It no longer looked like a hotel room with too much green and an odd smell that he couldn’t quite place. In fact, his Elsa figurine looked quite lovely under the horse lamp on the nightstand.

At the end of the night after all the jerky had been gobbled up and after Jinhyuk had finally eaten something that wasn’t a leftover pastry, he changed into his sleeping clothes ready to collapse into his pillow.

He wore the clothes Seungwoo had finished for him because the ones in the sack from the other apartment still smelled like Wooseok. Wooseok lingered on his things even if they hadn’t belonged to him, and it made Jinhyuk feel like it wasn’t right to use them yet. It’s not like he couldn’t just wash him off and have a real fresh start, but he couldn’t help but think that it meant that he wasn’t the same person anymore who once smelled like him too. Maybe he wasn’t.

Now there were different things that mattered — people who mattered — and a different sense of self that even he couldn’t quite understand.

He got out of bed and took a breath with his last resolve, too much on his mind — too much to take care of. He left his room and walked across the hall and knocked on Seungwoo’s door, ready to do the bravest thing he’s ever done.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)


	16. Round and Round

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seungwoo and Jinhyuk get closer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OK SO I’m sorry to have left yall on a cliffhanger and I know it’s not Tuesday but I’m a 🤡 we know

Seungwoo sat propped against his headboard early into the morning while a thousand thoughts raced through his mind. Jinhyuk had fallen asleep on his bed surrounded by old books and scrolls that had taken over Seungwoo’s room earlier that night.

Jinhyuk had come to his room after the others had gone to bed to ask him for help, and it was finally time for him to stop hoarding all of the answers for himself even if they might have been wrong.

“I want to know what I am,” he had said, standing in the doorway in his pajamas like a lost child. He wasn’t terrifying then. He wasn’t wielding a scythe or any sort of weapon. He was just standing there rubbing his hands together anxiously and shifting from foot to foot waiting on Seungwoo to send him away.

Seungwoo couldn’t say anything. Something about seeing him there so late and so disheveled made him think at first that he was there for something else, but of course he wasn’t. It wasn’t a  _ surprise _ that he wasn’t, but what surprised him — and kept him up all night — was that he wished he was.

Jinhyuk was a heavy sleeper, he had learned from Byungchan. He was also someone who was troubled with dreams that normal humans shouldn’t have ever had to have, but as he slept then, he was so peaceful. His expression was soft like he was only lying there with his eyes closed, resting, and Seungwoo wondered if the part of him that had to go to that awful place to  _ see  _ no longer needed to live in his dreams. 

Feeling particularly sentimental at the moment and especially fond of the person sleeping on his bed with no idea where he was or why he was still there, Seungwoo reached out his hand and ran his fingers through Jinhyuk’s hair. It was soft and thicker than he had imagined, and he needed a haircut. He didn’t know how to cut hair, but surely one of them could figure it out.

He was lost in thought, daydreaming about his newest roommate’s hair length, when Jinhyuk sleepily reached up and found his fingers. Seungwoo panicked for a moment, worried he had been caught, but the other boy seemed to still be unconscious. He pulled Seungwoo’s hand down to his face and held it close to him like a doll, and Seungwoo’s heart fluttered in a way it wasn’t supposed to for the undead.  _ Uh oh. _

In other words, he was in deep.

With his free hand he grabbed one of the old books and flipped it open. He propped it against his knees while Jinhyuk held the other hand. He would have been lying if he said the second part wasn’t entirely self indulgent. After a while he forgot that the person sleeping next to him was holding onto him until that person started to stir awake.

He tried to carefully pull his hand away but Jinhyuk, still half asleep, intertwined their fingers together like they were supposed to be there.

“I fell asleep,” he said, his voice barely coming out.

“Yes, you did,” Seungwoo tried to keep his own steady but wasn’t doing the best job at it.

“Sorry,” he said. His eyes were closed, and Seungwoo wasn’t sure if he had fallen back asleep. “I don’t know if I’m supposed to work today.”

The fact that he  _ was  _ awake startled him, but neither let go of the other.

“Why’s that?”

“Dongpyo said he changed my schedule, but I don’t know if he’s qualified to do that.”

Seungwoo smiled. “I’m sure that means you have the day off.”

“I hope so,” Jinhyuk said. “We still have a lot to do.”

_ We.  _

“You can rest today.”

He nodded and relaxed again.  _ Go back to sleep.  _

A few moments later he spoke again, and it made Seungwoo jump every time. “I guess you don’t have to take me to work anymore.”

He frowned, tired of Jinhyuk telling him to not take him to work when it was his favorite part of his day. “Why not?”

“If I’m really a reaper, do you think you still have to keep me safe?”

“Yes,” Seungwoo’s voice cracked. 

He smiled softly and kissed the top of Seungwoo’s hand before falling back asleep, still holding on to his fingers.

_ Oh no. _

He felt an odd ache in his chest that he hadn’t experienced in his two thousand years of unliving — not even during the first thousand that came with a certain indescribable loneliness that he felt constantly before finding Byungchan that only came from wandering around alone in a world that didn’t want him.

He closed the book on his lap and pressed his free palm against his chest. Maybe he just needed to sleep. He had probably just pulled a muscle in his chest after lifting all of those ridiculously heavy boxes packed with Jinhyuk’s things. He pouted. Wooseok could have  _ helped _ if he wanted him out so badly, but then he realized that that meant that Jinhyuk was going to stay with them for good and that wasn’t so bad at all. Maybe it was worth a little physical effort in the end.

He pulled his hand away and carefully and quietly stacked the books scattered on his bed neatly on the floor as to not wake his sleeping roommate who must have been exhausted by the heavy rise and fall of his chest.

He placed the scrolls into a box and set them to the side so that they wouldn’t accidentally get stepped on. Two thousand years was a long time to keep rolled up pieces of parchment, and they were priceless and irreplaceable to him. The one thing he hoarded the most was his research. 

He turned off his bedside lamp, leaving them cloaked in a comfortable darkness. He wouldn’t dare wake up Jinhyuk, but it felt wrong to leave him there too by himself. He had gone through enough alone for the last couple of weeks for one lifetime. He pulled a blanket over the other before finally settling down himself.

After a moment his eyes adjusted to the darkness, something that didn’t take long for someone so accustomed to the nighttime. He normally slept during the day like the others, but if Jinhyuk had the day off, he wanted to be up with him.

Unable to sleep, he watched Jinhyuk instead. His long lashes rested on the apples of his cheeks, brushing his skin as he dreamed. His mouth that held the biggest and brightest smile in the world was closed tightly, tense. He must have been having those dreams again. Seungwoo reached out and took Jinhyuk’s hand again with the hope that wherever it was on the Other Side that he had to go, he could take him there with him.

Jinhyuk didn’t know where he was. 

He was in an unfamiliar place that smelled like old books and flowers with no Byungchan clinging to him like most mornings. The room was dark, but he was certain that he was in his apartment. For a moment he feared that he had woken up in Wooseok’s studio and that all of this had only been a strange dream, but that would have smelled like wine and paint thinner. 

He hadn’t slept like that in years and was too disoriented to think about going to work. He couldn’t even remember if he still had a job or not. He rolled over and hugged the pillow and smiled softly as he breathed it in. It smelled like Seungwoo.

His eyes shot open as he realized where he was. He couldn’t believe he had fallen asleep in Seungwoo’s room while they were going through all of his books. He was amazed to discover how many books Seungwoo actually had shoved away in his room like some sort of library goblin. Some of the books and scrolls had to be handled with special gloves, and some were written in languages he had never heard of before. The fact that he had fallen asleep while doing something Seungwoo was so passionate about was humiliating.

One thing he noticed once he was awake was that he was alone. Seungwoo had probably spent the night on the couch, chased out of his own bed by Jinhyuk’s terrible sleeping habits. From then on, Jinhyuk would only bother Seungwoo for desperate attempts to find out what he was during regular business hours. 

He stumbled out of bed, determined to find his roommate and drag him back into his own bed if he wasn’t tired to make up for any lost sleep he may have caused, not once taking the time to consider what time of day it was.

Seungwoo, Byungchan, Seungyoun, and Yuvin were sitting in a circle around a large board that, from a distance, looked like a ouija board.  _ Can’t they just go through the other apartment if they need to talk to dead people? Oh right they blocked the door.  _ But it wasn’t a ouija board. It looked almost astrological.

“What are we doing,” he said, finding a comfortable spot on the couch with a vantage point. 

“Seungwoo is losing his mind,” Yuvin said.

“I am not,” he insisted. “Now look, the moon and the earth obviously didn’t stop moving, and the eclipse isn’t happening outside of our neighborhood, which we all know isn’t a part of the outside world anyway. So, if I’m correct, we should be somewhere around here.”

Seungwoo pointed to a symbol that looked somewhat like an upside down horseshoe over over a thin line.

“If time stopped, that means we’re somewhere closer to here,” he said, dragging his finger around the outer ring towards a symbol that looked like the letter “M” with a loop around the end. “So, we need to figure out what triggered the moon, the angry spirits, and Jinhyuk turning into a reaper.”

“Hmmm,” Seungyoun said, looking at the board. “Jinhyuk, when’s your birthday?”

“In June,” he said, surprised, still not quite sure what they were doing.

The four of them sighed, so sure they were on to something.

“That probably didn’t do it,” Seungyoun said. Seungwoo frowned, trying to come up with another idea.

“Not his new birthday,” Byungchan said, earning a look from the other three ghouls as well as from Jinhyuk himself. “We gave Jinhyuk a new birthday the same night the eclipse happened.”

“That wouldn’t change anything,” Seungwoo said, thinking out loud.

“Wouldn’t it though,” Jinhyuk asked, half asleep. He wasn’t well versed in planets or zodiacs or eclipses, but if they started to apply logic to their every day lives, someone would need to call an exorcist for at least half of the appliances and Yuvin wouldn’t sleep in the closet. 

Seungwoo stood up off the floor as if by instinct and found his way to the couch, a thoughtful expression on his face. Jinhyuk laid down on his lap and closed his eyes not noticing the amused look the others were giving them.

“So Jinhyuk’s new birthday was on the eclipse,” Seungwoo said, still thinking. “Was it his birthday that stopped it or the eclipse?”

“Did you guys have problems before I got here?”

“No, not at all,” Seungyoun said. “Our last big event was when we found Yuvin.”

Jinhyuk felt himself dragged back down by an unrelenting exhaustion, but there was too much he needed to say. He couldn’t peel his eyes open, and he worried that he would forget if he fell asleep.

“Apartment 211,” he mumbled.

“What did you say?” Seungwoo leaned down to hear him better. 

“It started when I went into the other apartment, didn’t it,” he said before falling back asleep.

Which lasted a total of ten seconds before he was forced back up to a sitting position on the couch. 

“What?” Seungyoun said, shaking his shoulders. “Wake up, you might be onto something. Byungchan get him some water.”

“I’m not thirsty,” Jinhyuk said.

“I’m going to throw it on you,” Seungyoun said.

Jinhyuk jumped up off the couch and bounced on his feet, eyes heavy but determined to not get a bath. “I’m up! Look! No need to–.”

He stood in his living room drenched in ice water ready to fight whichever one of them had thrown it until he heard a noise that sounded distinctly like a windshield wiper. Seungwoo was doubled over laughing gleefully at Jinhyuk’s expense, and Byungchan was holding an empty glass in his hands. 

“Hey!” Jinhyuk shouted, wiping the water from his face. “This isn’t funny!”

Seungwoo, who clearly disagreed, tried to catch his breath. “Sorry, but reapers are supposed to look scary.”

“You wanna see scary,” Jinhyuk tried to seem intimidating, but he really didn’t have it in him which earned a chorus of giggles from the other three ghouls. “Fine! I won’t tell you what else I remembered!”

He stormed off to find a towel to dry himself off with with a smile on his face that the others couldn’t see.

“Come back!” Seungwoo teased. “You can’t terrorize the underworld looking like a wet giraffe!”

“This isn’t funny!” Jinhyuk called out from his room. He changed shirts and dried his hair with the towel and returned once the giggling had stopped. “I will send all of your souls to the void. You’ll see.”

They were teasing him, but he was just happy that they weren’t afraid of him anymore. 

He sat back down on the couch next to Seungwoo who had stopped  _ wheezing  _ and took his hand comfortably like he was supposed to. Then he looked at their hands with a peculiar expression and then up to Seungwoo who was looking at him strangely. His cheeks burned as he let go shyly.  _ What is wrong with me? Why did I do that? _

Seungwoo blinked and shook himself pretending like Jinhyuk hadn’t just done something really embarrassing. “So, what else did you remember?”

“I thought it was weird at the time, but I didn’t realize where I had seen it before, but do you remember the group picture we took? I think there was one just like it on a table where my room is.”

Seungwoo looked at him and frowned. He went back to his room and everyone followed, curious. He stood before his giant bookshelf and scratched his head. They had picked through every book, scroll, and tome that so much as mentioned a reaper the night before. Jinhyuk was sure they had covered everything.

“There’s only person I can think of who would know for sure what’s going on,” he pondered. Seungyoun was the first to tiptoe out of there followed by the other ghouls who all went to their rooms and quietly closed the doors. 

“Are they some kind of supernatural expert or something?” Jinhyuk asked.

“You could say they wrote the book on it,” Seungwoo said. He pulled off a single book from his shelf and tossed it to Jinhyuk. 

“I thought you guys didn’t want me to read this,” Jinhyuk said, staring down at a certain field guide that Byungchan didn’t like very much. 

“What does it say about reapers?”

Jinhyuk flipped the book open and found the section about him. 

“Reapers, also known as Grim Reapers, are neutral beings, neither benevolent nor malevolent. Their primary purpose is to escort lost souls to the underworld,” he read. 

Jinhyuk scanned down the page and frowned. 

“Nothing,” he said. “It doesn’t say anything about where I come from.”

“That’s funny considering it has a  _ lot  _ to say about where I come from,” he folded his arms across his chest.

“This thing is bullshit anyway,” Jinhyuk tossed the book on the bed. “The only thing it got right was your diet which doesn’t take a  _ field expert  _ squatting in the grass to figure out.”

Seungwoo smiled softly, appreciating his words. “Close the door, please.”

“Why?” Jinhyuk’s heart fluttered.

“I don’t want the others to hear what I’m about to say.”

Jinhyuk did as he was asked and sat on the bed while Seungwoo paced. 

“So the reason there’s no author on this book is because no one is supposed to know his name,” Seungwoo said. “And you’re right, the book is bullshit. I don’t know why he made most of it up when he  _ made us _ or at least I think he did based on what half of these old scrolls say.”

Jinhyuk picked up the field guide. “You’re not saying…”

“Mhm, your friend from your dreams wrote it,” he said. “The reason there’s no name on the book except for the inconspicuous surname is because, also according to these scrolls, if you call his name it works like a summons, and he has no choice but to answer the call.”

Jinhyuk nodded, waiting for Seungwoo to explain where he was getting at, but something told him that he wasn’t going to like where this was going.

“It turns out, if a bunch of tavern rumors are to be believed, and let’s be honest, they’re usually not, that the god of death has a serious gambling problem.”

“A what?”

“Apparently he likes to come to the living world and place bets with mortals because he likes that it’s more fair that way,” Seungwoo explained. “Ghosts cheat. Well one day — or night depending on who’s telling the story — I’m telling it so it was during the day. One day, the god of death played a game with a human who was hiding in the back of an inn. I think he was a defector or something. It was like a thousand years ago. Everyone was a soldier. Anyways, back to my story. He made a bet that if the god of death won, he could have his soul. Boring, I know, but it’s not like gods care about money or property deeds. In return, if the human won, he would get the god of death’s name. It didn’t matter if he was ever caught if he could summon a god just by mumbling under his breath. If he won, he was secured for life, but if he lost, he was dead meat anyway so why would he care about what happened to his soul.”

“As you can imagine,” Seungwoo continued. “The reason why I’m even bothering to tell you this story is because — according to legend — the human won the game. He got the god’s name and was good to go except he died in his sleep of an unsuspected heart attack. Like I said, ghosts cheat. What the god did not take into account was that he wrote the name down on a tiny piece of parchment before going to bed that night as an insurance policy in case he ever forgot.”

Jinhyuk put his head in his hands. “So what I’m gathering here — what you’re saying is —you want to find the name and  _ ask him  _ yourself, right?”

“What I’m saying is, I already have it.”

Jinhyuk’s eyes widened in horror as his roommate’s face gave way to no fraction of a sign that he was joking.

“You’re serious,” he said.

“Do you have any better ideas?”

“Are you sure we didn’t just miss something,” Jinhyuk said, grabbing a book and flipping it open.

“I’ve been waiting for a reason to call him for centuries,” he said, the quiver in his voice giving him away. “But now I’m angry. I don’t like that he’s playing games with us. He took your life away without even asking first, and he made it my fault.”

“It’s not your fault…”

“I didn’t tell you not to go there,” he said. “Honestly, it shouldn’t have been anything more than just a regular abandoned apartment. I can’t believe I didn’t realize when I had to pull you back out that you weren’t human.”

Jinhyuk stood up and grabbed Seungwoo by the shoulders.  _ “This isn’t your fault.” _

Seungwoo closed his eyes and huffed. “I’m going to call him.”

“Are you sure about this?” 

“We both deserve answers.”

“Then let me do it,” Jinhyuk said.

“Why?”

“Because if something goes wrong, you have to take care of Byungchan.”

“You could take care of him,” Seungwoo said, looking away like he could cry.

“He would never listen to me, and you know it.”

“That’s true,” he said. “He doesn’t respect your authority.”

Jinhyuk gave him a moment to regain his strength. His family was important to him, and even if Jinhyuk was family now too, it was like they both knew that the reaper was the only one on this side or the other who was able to call a god without something terrible happening. Like the field guide said, Jinhyuk was neutral and less likely to use something like a name for his own personal gain. 

“If you think that this is what we have to, then we’ll do it,” he said.

Seungwoo nodded. He turned away and walked to his shelf and picked up a tiny wooden box. “Here it is.”

Jinhyuk opened the box, expecting a gust of wind and a beam of light to hit his face, but there was only a tiny scroll at the bottom. He swallowed and removed it from the box. He unrolled the piece of paper and frowned.

“What is it?” Seungwoo asked.

“I can’t read it,” he admitted.

“Oh, right,” he laughed. “I forgot you’re a baby. Here.”

Seungwoo scribbled down the name so that he could read. 

“Lee–,” Jinhyuk started.

“Wait!” Seungwoo stopped him. “Let’s do this outside just in case.”

“Good idea,” he said. “Should I get dressed first?”

Seungwoo nodded. They decided that they should probably have both gotten changed into their outside clothes before summoning a god.

Jinhyuk and Seungwoo stood in front of their apartment building. The others were safe inside just in case anything went wrong. Seungyoun had protested their plan because it was insane. Byungchan didn’t like it at all, but Jinhyuk guessed that Seungwoo’s thoughts were too loud for him to argue. Yuvin hid in his closet.

So it was just the two of them against a god. 

“You ready?” Seungwoo asked. 

Jinhyuk nodded and unfolded the piece of paper.

He took a breath, his heart pounding in his throat as he said the name of the most terrifying person in the whole universe.

_ “Lee Dong Wook.” _

The name sent a chill through Seungwoo’s entire body. It was such a simple name that probably belonged to thousands of people, but maybe just knowing  _ which  _ Lee Dongwook it was was enough. For a second, he thought it wasn’t going to work, but then the crows flew in from nowhere, angry and flustered.  _ There you are. _

The sky darkened, and off in the distance, a man dressed in black appeared. The wind picked up, sending wads of debris flying by them. He seemed to walk in slow motion, and Seungwoo worried that they had made a terrible mistake.

He approached them without any kind of expression. Was he angry? Was he going to rip their hearts out? There were only two times where Seungwoo could ever remember being truly afraid: the day Jinhyuk became the reaper and the moment he laid eyes on the god of death.

He was handsome. Seungwoo had to give him credit for that considering that he had imagined someone old and ugly like a haggered crone, not a  _ model.  _ If this was who Jinhyuk had been dreaming about, it must not have been as bad as he thought. 

He waited for him to say something to them like  _ how dare you summon me  _ or  _ I will send you both to your graves _ or something else dramatic, but the god smiled cheerfully and reached out to squeeze Jinhyuk’s cheeks.

“My son! You’ve grown up so well! Look at how cute you are!” he said with both of Jinhyuk’s cheeks in a tight grip.

Jinhyuk, who was startled in multiple ways, managed to mutter out his first question.  _ “I’m adopted?” _

The god laughed awkwardly — Seungwoo didn’t  _ know  _ a god could be  _ awkward.  _ “Not exactly. You were my son before you were born.”

“Oh,” Jinhyuk said.  _ Maybe not throw in any talk about destiny yet. I don’t know if he can handle it. _

“I’m so happy to see you here,” the god threw his arms around Jinhyuk and squeezed him. “And you too! My favorite son!”

He grabbed Seungwoo and dragged him into the hug that was surprisingly cold for three people.

“Your what?” Seungwoo said, muffled into Jinhyuk’s clothes.

“I’ve been waiting so long to finally see you,” he said to Seungwoo. “And to have you both here together… I couldn’t have planned it better myself.”

_ “Planned it?” _ Seungwoo and Jinhyuk said at the same time.

He brushed himself off. “First having to convince Jinhyuk to leave college and then pairing him up with that awful primadonna boy with the paintbrush. I was worried you two would never find each other.”

“Why would we need to?” Jinhyuk asked, turning red in the face. He must have been having the same thought that Seungwoo was having.

“The Other Side is a mess, I’ll admit,” he said. “Seungwoo guards the door like a good hound, but none of the souls are getting through. Reincarnations are down dramatically, and no one is getting to rest once they’re out of the system. The guys upstairs are pushing out new souls to make up for the lost souls, and the whole thing is just terribly congested. We needed a reaper to clean things up to get everything back to normal, and, well, I send them, but then they just die of old age and never reach their full potential. But  _ you,  _ oh man,  _ you’re  _ going to save the world.”

“I think I’m going to be sick,” Jinhyuk said, tipping over. Seungwoo caught him just in time.

“I’m getting ahead of myself,” the god said. “You probably have a lot of questions, and I am more than happy to answer each and every one of them.”

Jinhyuk steadied himself, but Seungwoo was the one who began to feel dizzy once he had. 

The god clapped his hands, excited for this new beginning, and turned to Seungwoo. “Now, are you going to invite me in or are we supposed to settle two thousand years of suppressed rage and abandonment issues outside like two uncivilized miscreants.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> title was a spoiler since i figured no one actually looks at them lol
> 
> ANOTHER SURPRISE I WAS HOLDING IN FOR MONTHS I CANT HAVE JH WITHOUT HIS DAD
> 
> SEUNGWOO AND JINHYUK ARE NOT RELATED AT ALL BTW HE JUST CALLED HIM HIS SONS BECAUSE HES AN AFFECTIONATE GOD IM SORRY
> 
> I THINK SOME OF YALL WERE ABOUT TO GUESS WHO IT WAS AND I WAS SO NERVOUS AJDHJSDHHDD
> 
> twitter is @seungteefs


	17. A Long Talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dongwook answers their questions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I took a week off! I hope you enjoy having some questions answered!

It was the first time in a thousand years that Seungwoo had ever seen Byungchan be quiet, but Byungchan wasn’t the only one unable to make a sound. Seungyoun, Jinhyuk, Byungchan, and Yuvin were squeezed together shoulder to shoulder on the couch with their hands neatly folded on their laps like nervous children meeting a new grown up for the first time.

Seungwoo brought over a cup of hot tea on a saucer that trembled in his hands. He set it down carefully on the table, but the porcelain rattled like maracas as he clumsily made contact with the table. Unable to calm his nerves, he backed into the couch and sat down in the middle between Jinhyuk and Byungchan, forcing the others to squeeze in tighter to accommodate for him too.

The atmosphere was unlike anything he had ever experienced before. Not that they had ever had a guest over before, but the fact that their first was a  _ god  _ and the person (or being) responsible for their immortal fates was enough to put the ghouls and the reaper on edge.

Dongwook brought the cup to his lips. He closed his eyes and breathed in the steam rising from the top before tasting the liquid. He smiled warmly. “This is the good stuff. Where did you get it?”

“It’s ghost tea,” Seungyoun said, taking the lead for this one. Seungwoo was unable to answer, too angry and too nervous to speak. “We get it from a merchant who sells it like they used to in the old days.”

“Ahhh, that explains why it’s so fragrant,” he said, satisfied. He looked towards the kitchen with an inquisitive expression. “Is all your food ghost-produced?”

“Everything except for the people,” Byungchan answered, his voice small and unsure. “Most of that we got off that guy that Jinhyuk killed.”

Jinhyuk laughed nervously. “I did  _ not  _ kill him. I didn’t, right?”

The god shook his head. “Just his body. His soul was already lost. If you had killed a human, you wouldn’t have become a reaper.”

“That’s a relief, I guess,” Jinhyuk said. “I mean I’m glad I didn’t kill anyone.”

Dongwook raised an eyebrow. “But you’re not happy that you became a reaper.”

Jinhyuk shook his head “no” honestly, and Seungwoo worried that they were all about to get scolded and he tensed in anticipation.

Dongwook set his teacup on the table and sighed. “I see you all have some questions for me, and since some of you wish to keep yours private, I’ll address the group concerns first. What would you like to know?”

He looked at Seungwoo specifically when he mentioned private questions, and Seungwoo knew that there was a chance that he would regret summoning Dongwook in the first place.

The five looked at each other, waiting for someone else to speak first, but everyone was either too nervous or too afraid.

“How did Jinhyuk become a reaper,” Seungwoo spoke. It was the most recent event and their most dramatic overall after Byungchan terrorizing a village or the time they had to save Seungyoun from a different village. People just didn’t make villages like they used to anymore. 

“Let’s see,” Dongwook crossed his legs and looked off as he recalled. “First, you all know that the Other Side is collapsing — aren’t you glad you get to live on this side — and I’m sure you’re all familiar with the shadows. It turns out that people die  _ a lot  _ these days like there are  _ so  _ many stray spirits and ghosts trying to squeeze through a very tiny gate all at the same time. Sorting them is a nightmare, and there is  _ so  _ much paperwork. Well, as you know, the shadows come from humans who can’t crossover whether because they’re too awful that no one wants to sort them or because they can’t fit through the door. The problem is that people are just so damn  _ angry  _ these days. I blame social media, but that’s neither here nor there. They’re falling apart too fast to get to, and it’s all the bad angry energy tearing the whole place to shreds. It is a  _ nightmare. _ ”

“But you’re a god,” Seungyoun said. “Can’t you just make it stop.”

Dongwook shook his head, not bothered by the interruption because he was, first and foremost, an entertainer. He fed off of their interest. 

“I can’t just snap my fingers and make it all go away, but I can offer a solution. That’s where Jinhyuk comes in. The god of life and I gathered about a hundred pure, unborn souls. The trick is that they have to be neutral, and they can’t have ever accumulated any sort of karma. We dropped the souls near the doors, and we waited. Reapers can’t be forced to reap so we can’t just send them a few bad spirits and hope for the best. It’s more like sitting back and watching eggs hatch with only a chance for one chick to see the Spring, and I was really rooting for you, kid.”

The way he spoke made it seem like he was truly a proud father and not an absent deity who had left up the fate of the entire afterlife to poor Jinhyuk who could barely get himself dressed in the morning. Something about it tempered Seungwoo’s anger because all he wanted to do was tell Jinhyuk that it wasn’t his fault that his life had been ruined. 

“I mean, you were perfect. You were good, but not so good that you would interfere, but you didn’t have a selfish bone in your body. I mean, you moved in with a group of ghouls who ate people right under your nose, and your first concern was to not seem rude or annoying.”

He laughed, but no one else was laughing at all. In fact, they were all quite protective of the Jinhyuk who thought that they were organ smugglers and risked his life going to  _ real  _ organ smugglers just for them.

“Ah, yes, the reaper part. The fact that you made it here was a miracle. I mean, I couldn’t have dreamt of it better myself. First you get dumped, and Seungwoo puts out that advertisement for a human roommate all in the same week. It was perfect. What were the odds of a reaper moving  _ into a door?  _ Anyways, the first step happened when you crossed over. You didn’t die, obviously, but humans can’t crossover without dying so that secured your soul into a tiny preserved jar that was ready to ferment. Seungwoo being the good dog he is, dragged you out before you could actually die. Now  _ that  _ had us all on edge. All the gods were placing bets, and I won myself a pretty nice chunk of heaven for it, I have to say.”

Seungwoo did not like being referred to as a dog. Or a hound. Or any other variant of the word. He was a person. He may not have been human anymore, but he was a person with feelings.

“Then you had to reap something,” he continued, ignoring the change in the air. “Before I can take credit for that, I have to say that Seungyoun opening the door as soon as a crack appeared in the Other Side was absolutely brilliant. It was all timed so well with, you know, the eclipse and everything. Jinhyuk  _ almost  _ made the transformation when he killed the possessed guy, but it wasn’t enough to shake up his soul. Sure, he didn’t want to die, but Seungwoo’s life… now that was what he really cared about. That’s where the real passion was.

Seungwoo felt an awkward shift next to him.

“Jinhyuk swung so hard that we felt it from the other side,” he said, almost admiring him. “The best awakening I’ve seen since I took this job. I mean, really. If you weren’t neutral, you would probably have every single god in the universe quaking in their boots. Don’t get any ideas, though. So, yeah, I think that about sums things up.”

They were silent for a while as everyone processed the new information and the answers to the questions they had when they were coming up with their own theories. Seungwoo’s mind raced in a million different directions, but it stopped once Jinhyuk spoke.

“What am I supposed to do?” He said quietly.

“You’re going to find all of the lost souls and bring them back, reap the shadows, and thin out the herd so to speak. Actually, the fact that you have four ghouls here really works in your favor because I can send someone to each corner of the world to make your job easier.”

“We don’t want to be separated,” Seungwoo said, firm.

“I don’t think you have much of a choice,” Dongwook frowned.

“Then I won’t do it,” Jinhyuk said, staring at the floor.

“Excuse me?”

“I won’t take the job. I won’t reap anything. I won’t clean up the mess,” he said. “They’re my family.”

Dongwook smiled in disbelief. “They’re not your family. They have their purpose, and you have yours. Don’t let yourself get clouded by human sentiments.”

“We’re staying together,” he said, and Seungwoo worried that Dongwook would get pissed off. “We can travel freely right?”

“Yes–.”

“And we can basically jump from door to door, right? It’s not like you guys care about physics.”

“Well, yes–,” he said, considering it.

“Then we’ll work as a team,” Jinhyuk said. “You don’t send one guy in for jobs this big. Right? And I’m the only reaper, right?”

Dongwook nodded. 

“So, you get a shadow hunting team of a reaper and four ghouls, who actually like the reaper, willing to clean up the Other Side without really any other conditions, or you have to wait for another reaper to accidentally kill something which could take decades,” Jinhyuk said. He was negotiating, and Seungwoo wondered if being in the presence of  _ his  _ god was bringing something out of him. By his smile, Dongwook seemed to notice it too.

“I think I can allow this,” he said. “Do you have any other questions then?”

Jinhyuk leaned forward with the utmost sincerity. 

“Do I get a magic sword?”

_ There he is. _

Dongwook blinked, completely thrown off by the question. “No, you get a scythe. Reapers reap with scythes.”

“But I did it with a fire extinguisher.”

“It’s symbolic.”

_ Wow, they really are related.  _

“But they’re so impractical,” Jinhyuk pointed out. “I can’t even take it on the subway.”

“You can’t take a magic sword on the subway,” Seungwoo said.

“I could _ try,”  _ Jinhyuk insisted. 

“You don’t need to take the subway,” Dongwook said, aging a few years from their conversation. “Just take the death door.”

“Everywhere?”

“Yes,” he rubbed his temples.

“For free?”

“Everything is free,” Dongwook said. “You’re dead.”

Seungwoo inhaled sharply as the person to his right froze in horror

“I’m sorry, I’m what now?”

“Well, you’re not  _ really  _ dead I mean you’re more like me than they are. They actually died.”

“We did?” Byungchan confirmed. Seungwoo had never really talked about what being a ghoul meant with him. He always felt like a child to him that needed to be protected like he was his real little brother and not just someone he chose to survive the world with, but that meant that he never wanted to explain to Byungchan about more than he had to. Other than that, everything they knew about themselves was from pure speculation.

“Yes, I guess that’ll be the next thing I explain,” he said.

Seungwoo felt himself move forward to listen. He had waited his whole life for a single answer that hadn’t come from a legend or a fairy tail. “If you’re sure you all want to know…”

The ghouls were silent and curious so he took that as a yes.

“I did create you,” he started. “But you were human first as I’m sure you suspected. You lived and you died, but you weren’t allowed to crossover.”

“What do you mean ‘not allowed’,” Seungwoo asked.

“If I have to put it simply, you were damned. You died, and you made it to the door, but you weren’t allowed through.”

“Why not?” Seungyoun asked.

Dongwook sighed. “This is hard. If Hell was real, you four probably would have gotten a one way ticket.”

Seungwoo felt his own heart race. Although he had no memory of his previous self, he had suspected that his current life was more of a punishment than a reward. 

Without another interruption, Dongwook continued. “We couldn’t let you reincarnate because your karma was irredeemable, and you couldn’t find peace because you didn’t deserve it. You were going to have to wander around the other side until your souls fell apart, but occasionally I feel like making use of lost souls so I gave you all the choice of becoming hounds and earning your chance at a peaceful afterlife. As you can all see, you all chose to return to the living world, and once your duties are fulfilled, you can cross over.”

“What did we do,” Byungchan whispered. 

“You were a shaman who became a trusted political advisor,” Dongwook said, and Seungwoo mentally pleaded with him to stop. But he continued anyway. “But you used your gift to manipulate others and advance your own position for your entire life, and your lies and tricks caused a lot of innocent people to die. In this place’s old kingdom, hundreds of nobles and peasants were beheaded for treason, and it was a horrible mess for us. So many good souls were just cast aside decades before they were meant to die because you whispered lies into a stupid king’s ears. Don’t worry, he’s also doing his own penance somewhere out in a field right now as a scarecrow.”

Byungchan put his head on Seungwoo’s shoulder, tired.

“What about me?” Seungyoun asked.

“You were a doctor who took advantage of poor, sick patients during a plague,” Dongwook said simply. “You made fake cures and sold them at a high price, and then you took the bodies of the people who took your poisons and cut them open for your own knowledge. You butchered hundreds before you were caught.”

“And me?” Yuvin asked, speaking for the first time.

“A corrupt contractor,” he said, drinking from his tea that had gone cold. “You took money for jobs you did cheaply, and one of the buildings collapsed with a few dozen families still inside. None of them were able to be saved. Because the other buildings you built are still capable of collapsing, we calculated all of those eventual deaths too, and it was just enough to keep you out.

Seungwoo did not ask about himself.

“I think I’m going to stretch my legs,” Dongwook said. “Excuse me.”

He headed for the door, and Seungwoo jumped up to follow him. He had too many questions to let him slip away just like that. 

“Wait,” he called after him as he followed him out. He ran down the stairs into the street after him. “Wait!”

“There you are,” Dongwook said, taking a drag from a cigarette. “I didn’t want to smoke in the apartment since I know how you feel about messes.”

Seungwoo looked at him, and the rage and desperation came out of him before he could stop it. 

“How could you tell him that?”

“He asked,” he said.

“You could have stopped at greedy advisor,” Seungwoo said. “He wasn’t supposed to find out.”

“You knew? I’m not surprised,” he admitted. “You’ve always been too curious for your own good.”

“I had my suspicions,” Seungwoo said. “The timeline was right, but Byungchan is  _ good _ . He isn’t selfish, and he doesn’t hurt people.”

“I didn’t pass the judgement,” he said calmly. “Consider the fact that I saved him before you curse at me. You’re the worst of them all.”

Seungwoo closed his eyes. “Don’t.”

“You don’t want to face it? You’re not mad at me. You’re mad at yourself because you know that you’re the reason you’ve spent the last two thousand years alone, and all I did was help you decide how you wanted to spend it.”

“Stop,” Seungwoo said, sick to his stomach, but it was too late. Thunder cracked at the god of death’s command, and the memories came to him all at once. He doubled over. “Please don’t make me see this.”

“You traded a whole nation,” Dongwook said, standing over him, tall and dark. “You sent your soldiers to hold the border.”

“Stop!”

“You let them in, and they burned down every village they came across until they turned the nation upside down. Men and women were captured and hung over walls or slaughtered in the fields. Children… they all died because you sold out your own country.”

Seungwoo covered his ears to block out the screams of bodies burning, the hooves pounding through blood soaked mud, the sound of himself being dragged out of his own home, a traitor. 

“You are not mad at me,” he said, and Seungwoo was back in this world. “I won’t tell them what you are. That’s between you and your own soul. Now are you satisfied? Do you still blame me for your own fate?”

Seungwoo thought for a moment, overwhelmed. “You’ve been watching us this whole time.”

“Yes,” he said.

“Why did you wait until now to come?”

“Because Jinhyuk called me,” Dongwook said simply.

“What if it had been me,” he asked bitterly. “Your  _ favorite  _ son.”

“You wouldn’t have. You needed Jinhyuk to do it,” Dongwook said. “You weren’t ready to deal with your own conscience alone.”

“And what about Jinhyuk? Is that some kind of sick joke? Did you dangle him in front of me just so I would have some kind of doglike loyalty to your reaper? I’m not a fucking hound. You don’t get to toss me a bone and call me a good boy.”

“He’s your reward for living a good life and guarding the door so vigilantly,” Dongwook said, approaching him. He put his hand on his shoulder in a fatherly way that made Seungwoo sick. “I sent him to you as a way out. You can either spend eternity together or you can ask him to send you to the afterlife. What you do is up to you, but I hope you decide to help him because he can’t take on his destiny on his own. He needs you as much as you needed him.”

Seungwoo looked away, hurt. 

“You made me fall in love with him just to be used for your own plans.”

“Actually, that was all you two,” he said, stepping back. “I had hoped you would at least be friends or pleasant coworkers because I couldn’t care less what you two do together in your own time as long as the souls get cleaned up. In fact, you should feel energized knowing that being able to feel love means you earned your humanity back. Congratulations, you’re a real boy now.”

He dropped the cigarette on the ground and it vanished as soon as it hit the pavement. 

“Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go get a bite to eat out of your refrigerator. It’s been days since I had a decent meal.”

Seungwoo was left alone with too much to deal with. All he wanted to do was get in his car and drive somewhere far away from death. He felt guilt and pain and a broken heart. He felt alone.

And then Jinhyuk was by his side like a tall, gangly phantom that had sneaked up on him. “Are you okay?”

Seungwoo sniffled, not knowing that he had been on the verge of tears.

“That was a lot,” Jinhyuk said. “He shouldn't have unloaded it all on you like that.”

“How much did you hear?” Seungwoo said, not able to look at him.

“Everything,” Jinhyuk said. “You know he’s got a real flair for the dramatic making you go through all of that when he knew I was right there behind you.”

“Do you hate me?” Seungwoo said, worried that the feudal lord he was two thousand years ago would ruin the family he had created in the present.

“No,” Jinhyuk said. “I just want to make sure you’re okay.”

Seungwoo nodded. Dongwook was right. Jinhyuk  _ was  _ neutral. No, he was good. He was selfless. He cared. And Seungwoo loved him.

“Then you heard the rest,” Seungwoo said.

Jinhyuk nodded.

“I don’t want you to–,” he started, but Jinhyuk cut him off.

“Me too,” Jinhyuk said. “I mean not that part you were about to say. I mean the other part. What you said to him earlier when you were upset. Me too.”

Seungwoo was silent, processing and looking for a way to take the pressure off of the other but unable to speak.

“Would that be so terrible?” Jinhyuk said, breaking the silence. “I mean, if we spent the rest of our lives together? Like, not just as a ghost hunting team…”

Seungwoo turned to him. Jinhyuk’s face was red and unmistakably flustered in contrast to Seungwoo’s whose was covered in pain and confusion. 

“I’m scared that if I say I want to, I’ll be damned again for being selfish.”

“Then I want to,” Jinhyuk said. “Stay with me until you’re ready to move on. It’s what I want. I want to be with you, and I want to take care of the others with you, and I want to make the world a better place with you.”

He took Seungwoo’s face in his hands who looked back at him sadly.

“I want to,” Seungwoo whispered. There was no loud crack of thunder. The sky didn’t darken. The ground beneath them didn’t open up and suck him down. There were no consequences. His debt had been paid.

He grabbed his shirt and pulled him to him, letting himself love and be loved for the first time as someone who shouldn’t have been able to experience either.

“Guys,” Yuvin said a few feet away before he had a chance to do anything worthwhile. “I hate to interrupt your little moment, but the god of death wants a pizza.”

Jinhyuk put his face on Seungwoo’s shoulder and snorted, and Seungwoo felt the weight of him drop onto him and he was relieved by it.

“Does he want ghost pizza or real pizza,” Seungwoo asked, holding him up. 

“He didn’t say,” Yuvin said. “But like, you can’t leave us alone with him.”

Seungwoo sighed. “If Byungchan is okay, take him and go get the ghost pizza. Get some beer too. Also, cookies. And some of that jerky.”

Yuvin left, repeating the list quietly to himself as to not forget anything.

“What are you about to do?” Jinhyuk asked.

Seungwoo sighed. “Fix up a place for the god of death to spend the night.”

Jinhyuk hadn’t expected to have a pizza party with the god of death, but once the atmosphere lifted, it made sense. He really did consider himself to be their father in a completely non-blood related way so Jinhyuk was allowed to be with Seungwoo in a completely non-incestuous way — if that’s what they wanted, of course. Jinhyuk wanted to. He wanted to go on dates, and sit in the park with the cherry blossoms, and take vacations together between hunts since he guessed that was his new permanent job. 

He wasn’t sure how he was supposed to squeeze in reaping full time with his cafe schedule. Dongpyo and Jinwoo wouldn’t always be able to cover for him… he really hoped that they had covered for him that day because if not, he was totally going to lose his job. How was he supposed to support his ghouls on a reaper’s salary? It was a lot to think about.

Dongwook ended up staying in Seungwoo’s room because it was the biggest which put Seungwoo on the couch. Byungchan was feeling extra clingy after finding out he was a garbage human being so while he had to balance thinking about his new life, his family, his relationship? with Seungwoo, and what all of that meant for him, he also had to keep Byungchan from getting too upset.

He wanted to talk to Seungwoo. He wanted to know how he was feeling and if he was okay. He wanted to understand what they were supposed to do from then on. When was he supposed to start reaping things? Was he supposed to carry his scythe around with him just in case he stumbled upon something? He wasn’t even sure if it would fit in the back of Seungwoo’s car. 

And then as the night went on and his thoughts bounced back and forth, he remembered that he was going to have to be the one to end his roommates lives one day, and then he would be alone forever. A wave of grief washed over him all at once — first for his roommates and then for himself because he had died hadn’t he? There wasn’t a happy ending for him in his future, but he did feel relieved knowing he could give them a peaceful end if they ever asked him for it.

He cried silently into his pillow, careful not to wake Byungchan who clung to him, until he fell asleep to dreams about the Other Side and spirits who needed him to save them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for your patience, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter!


	18. Can We Be Normal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jinhyuk adjusts to human life again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! Sorry for the kinda late update my brain is was not wanting to work with me! I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Jinhyuk’s dreams were more intense than usual. It wasn’t just enough to see the other side, but to be the reaper, he had to become a part of it.

At first he wanted to run and hide, cowering from the shadows out to devour him whole, but the scythe at his back hummed. It was hungry too. He took it in his hands and moved back into the street where they swarmed like a murder of crows.

He swung his weapon in an arch, and the blade emitted a faint purple glow the color of burning brimstone. It cut through them, and they vanished from the air, hissing and shrieking. He could have sworn he heard a faint  _ thank you _ .

He worked tirelessly through the night until the neighborhood was clear, and the light could pass through again. It reminded him of the early morning, and he woke up back in the living world, alone and cold.

He looked around, half asleep and confused.  _ Where’s Byungchan?  _ According to his clock, it wasn’t time to get up yet, but he wasn’t interested in going back to sleep. He decided to get up and start his day early like he used to when he wanted to avoid his roommates, hoping that he could avoid seeing the god of death before he left to go to work that morning.

He swung his legs over the side of the bed, and almost tripped as he walked out of his bedroom. He looked down and Byungchan was fast asleep on the floor, unbothered.

Picking him up was awkward. He hadn’t realized that he and Byungchan were about the same height, and once he thought about it, Seungwoo and Seungyoun were too. Maybe that was a rule for the undead. They had a height requirement. He shuddered, realizing he had unconsciously called himself undead.  _ I’m not dead. I’m just going to be the same age for the rest of my life. _

He dragged a limp, sleeping Byungchan into the bed while grumbling about him not being very helpful. He couldn’t bother waking up, but he had no problem smiling in his sleep and squeezing Jinhyuk’s pillow. Jinhyuk sighed and left to get ready.

He washed his face and brushed his teeth before tiptoeing into the living room. He sat down on the couch next to Seungwoo who was still asleep, kicked out of his own room by their patron deity. He hesitated initially, but he realized he didn’t have anything to lose so he raised his hand and gently stroked the other’s hair. It was soft and hung in his face. Jinhyuk smiled to himself thinking that he needed a haircut. He didn’t know how to cut hair, but he could probably figure it out.

Seungwoo scrunched his nose and opened his eyes, stirred by the gentle gesture — very much unlike Byungchan who had successfully remained unconscious even after being flung onto a mattress.

“Good morning,” Seungwoo grumbled, realizing who it was.

“Did I wake you?” He asked, knowing he did.

“No,” he said softly, his voice low and gravelly. “I was only resting my eyes.”

“Oh okay,” he smiled. “You still taking me to work?”

He nodded even though apparently they didn’t have to travel by car anymore. “Is it time yet?”

“No, you still have a couple hours.”

Seungwoo frowned. “What are you doing up this early?”

He considered not telling him, but it didn’t make sense to keep secrets. It also wasn’t something he needed to spend the rest of his immortal life worrying about (if ghouls even had worries), so they might as well get used to it now. “I had really intense dreams.”

“Death?” Seungwoo asked, rolling over onto his back to listen better. Jinhyuk nodded. “Byungchan said you don’t normally remember them.”

“I guess it’s worse with you-know-who here,” Jinhyuk sad, gesturing behind himself to Seungwoo’s room. “I think he’s like a death homing beacon.”

Seungwoo snorted.

“What?” Jinhyuk asked.

“I don’t even know what that is,” he smiled, and they both laughed quietly. “Are you okay, though?”

He nodded. “Woke up with Byungchan on the floor, though. I guess he’s still scared of me.”

Seungwoo shook his head. “It’s just going to take some time for everyone’s survival instincts to calm down, I guess. Reapers are scary.”

“Are you scared of me?”

Seungwoo thought for a moment quietly and shook his head again. “No, I don’t think so.”

“Why not?”

“Because when my time comes, I’m glad it will get to be you,” he said all too seriously. “And not a mob of angry villagers.”

Jinhyuk exhaled, amused. “I will scare off any villagers that want to try it. But you aren’t ready to go yet, right?”

“No, I still have a few thousand years left in me,” he joked. Tired, and not wanting to think about his future duties anymore, he laid down on the couch with his best roommate and took a quick nap.

When he woke up, it was time to properly get ready for work, and the others had emerged quietly from their rooms. The smell of coffee filled the apartment, and he was sure they could sneak out before seeing Dongwook again, but they had no such luck.

“Where are you going without your scythe,” he said, standing in the hallway in Seungwoo’s pajamas. 

“To work,” Jinhyuk said, surprised.

“What do you meant to work? Your job is to reap. You’re the reaper.”

“Yeah, and I have a morning shift at the coffee shop to get to,” he said. “I guess I won’t see you again. So, uh, have a safe trip to the underworld.”

“See you later,” Seungwoo added.

“You’re going too? You have to guard the door,” he said, baffled.

“Oh, we took care of that,” Seungyoun said, pouring himself a cup of coffee in the kitchen, referring to the door that they had sealed shut themselves. “The perks of living with a cursed contractor.”

“That’s not–,” Dongwook said.

“Well, we don’t want to get stuck in traffic,” Jinhyuk said, signaling that they meant to leave immediately.

“You don’t need to drive. Jinhyuk can just _ go. _ ”

Seungwoo smirked and jingled his keys. “I also don’t need these to drive my car.”

Jinhyuk and Seungwoo left completely unbothered.

“Where are they going?” Dongwook asked.

Seungyoun handed him the hot mug. “Dude, they just want some alone time with each other. Don’t worry about it.”

He blinked as the door shut, leaving him alone to process that his two best men didn’t care one way or another what he said or did.

As soon as they were out of the apartment, they both became insufferable and giddy, scurrying down the steps to avoid the consequences of their own rebellion.

“He’s going to kill us,” Jinhyuk said quietly as they walked towards the car.

“He shouldn’t have accidentally told us you could reap a god,” Seungwoo pointed out.

Jinhyuk snorted. “Serves him right.”

“Call me a dog in my own house again,” Seungwoo grumbled as the car doors swung open for them.

“Should I have brought my scythe though,” he pondered, buckling up.

“Hmmmm,” Seungwoo thought. “Would they let you keep it with you?”

_ “I doubt it,”  _ he said.

“Maybe you can just teleport back and forth if you need it,” he suggested.

“He didn’t teach me how to do that…”

“Guess we should have asked first, huh.”

Jinhyuk sighed and furrowed his brows. “Damn it.”

It was a pretty uneventful day at work. Everything smelled like pumpkin, cinnamon, and brown sugar for the season, but there was something else. Something sour in the air. He lifted the cup of tea to his face and frowned.

“Jinwoo,” he said, stern. 

Jinwoo froze in his tracks. “Yes?”

“How long have you been trying to poison me,” he said, dumping the contents down the drain.

“What?” He said, completely surprised and innocent.

“I told you they knew,” Dongpyo said, wiping down the counter.

Jinhyuk waited patiently for a response.

“It wasn’t going to kill you,” he said, looking down and twisting his shoe into the floor.

“Have you poisoned anyone else?”

“No!” He said. “Just you!”

Jinhyuk wasn’t sure how to take that. “Alright, but you know you’d get into a lot of trouble if you killed a human, right.”

“I know,” he pouted.

“Alright then.”

“What are you,” Dongpyo squinted.

“If I told you, you’d both run out of here screaming,” he said honestly, amused with himself.

“Yeah, whatever,” Dongpyo said, uninterested. 

They quietly went back to work, and as the day went on, Jinhyuk found himself growing exhausted. The night had been too long and too draining for his unadjusted body, and he wondered if it really was possible for him to work a day job in the human world. He drank his cinnamon flavored tea and forced himself to finish his shift. He wished he had the same energy the sprites did, but maybe that was normal for fey.

Close to the end of his work day, his phone buzzed in his pocket. He checked the screen because no one texted him those days, and it was a message from Yohan asking if they could all hang out. He asked who he meant, and Yohan responded with himself, Wooseok, Jinhyuk, and all four of Jinhyuk’s roommates. Jinhyuk’s eyes almost popped out of his head.  _ All of us?! _

It was hard to say no because he adored Yohan, but  _ all of them?  _ What if Byungchan bit Wooseok? Seungyoun and Yuvin could probably control themselves even if nothing about them was normal, but how could Jinhyuk and Seungwoo manage to keep the shit from hitting the fan by themselves? And then Jinhyuk had to consider that Seungwoo was also a few snarky remarks from eating Wooseok for dinner.  _ Oh my god. _

He swallowed and told Yohan he would have to ask when he got home, and it was true because even though apparently he could teleport anytime he wanted, the god of death never taught him how to do that.

The question ate at him though: could they pretend to be normal?

Seungwoo’s face made the stress melt away. He came in early again, probably feeling unsettled in his own home thanks to their recent guest. Jinhyuk made him a maple brown sugar flavored coffee with extra whipped cream. He eyed the concoction, not used to human decadence.

“You’ll like it,” he promised. The ghouls loved sweets and junk food too much for Seungwoo to want to spit out. Seungwoo raised the mug to his mouth, smearing whipped cream all over his lip and the tip of his nose. Jinhyuk reached out, forgetting he was at work, and swiped the whipped cream from Seungwoo’s mouth and ate it. Seungwoo blinked, surprised and red faced. “Sorry.”

“No, it’s fine,” he said. “I’ve never had anyone do that before.”

“Have you ever had whipped cream before?”

“No,” he said. “So that’s what you’re supposed to do?”

Jinhyuk flushed at the question. “Only for certain people.”

Seungwoo thought about it and understood, registering what Jinhyuk meant. “Ah!”

He dotted a spot of whipped cream on the tip of Jinhyuk’s nose and stole it back and ate it, pleased with himself. Jinhyuk thought he was going to die. He was actually going to have a heart attack. The reaper had been reaped.

_ I’m at work,  _ he reminded himself. He could not kiss him. That reminded him that he never had before and wondered what that would be like. They were in it for life (or undeath) so there wasn’t a rush, but the thought of it made his heart race. Seungwoo still felt so untouchable to him. He was, in his own right, a god. There was no other way to describe someone 2000 years old, immortal, created by death to be a gatekeeper, and, of course, that beautiful. How could Jinhyuk even dare put his mouth near him? He wasn’t worthy. He bit back his urge and finished up his shift so they could go home.

Before they left, he noticed Seungwoo pass an envelope to Dongpyo. “What was that?”

“Ah, a bit of silver I had lying around,” he said simply.

“Why?”

“Because sprites love shiny things,” he explained like it was an explanation. “Probably the same reason you keep feeding Byungchan jerky.”

“Oh, that makes sense,” he said. “None for Jinwoo?”

He shook his head. “He’s been poisoning you for weeks.”

“Yeah, I figured that out.”

Seungwoo looked at him surprised. “Look at you, figuring stuff out on your own.”

Jinhyuk stuck out his tongue. “I’ve changed, you know.”

Seungwoo shook his head. “Not that much.”

They got to the car, and Seungwoo tore up a parking ticket that had been squeezed beneath the windshield wiper. Jinhyuk raised his eyebrows.

“What are they gonna do? Put me in jail?”

“That’s fair,” he said, getting in. The seats were warm, and he wondered if the car was in a good mood. “Do you have a license?”

Seungwoo snorted. “A what?”

He sighed. “At least we can’t die.”

“That’s the spirit,” he said, cheerful, and they drove home.

He thought for a while quietly, not sure how to bring up the big question. He would say yes if he asked. He also liked Yohan, but now their situation had changed. How was he going to interact with Wooseok specifically, and would the others even want to? They never really left the apartment unless they needed to find food. 

“What’s on your mind?” Seungwoo said. 

“What?” He asked, startled. “Oh, I have a favor to ask, I guess.”

“Hmm?”

“Yohan asked me if all of us could hang out tonight,” he said. 

“All of us?”

“Yeah, like, the five of us with him and Wooseok.”

“Wooseok, you say,” he said, plotting. “Are you still upset with him?”

“No,” he admitted. “I don’t feel anything about it anymore. I think he was a human Jinhyuk problem, but now I can honestly say that I’ve found someone be–.”

He stopped himself. It wasn’t right to compare them, and he never wanted to do that. They weren’t even chapters from the same book. Seungwoo could have eaten his great grandparents for all he knew.

“I’m fine with it if you guys are,” he said, replacing his own sentence.

“What does he want to do?” 

“He wants to go out for chicken and beer, and then go bowling,” he said.

“None of us have ever bowled before, but it looks like fun on TV,” Seungwoo said, excited, and Jinhyuk realized there was a lot of the outside world they never got to do, and he was going to have to take them everywhere. 

“If you like it, maybe the five of us can go out once a week or something,” he suggested.

“I think they’d like that,” Seungwoo agreed.

“And maybe sometimes we can go do stuff just the two of us,” he added shyly.

“Lee Jinhyuk, are you asking me out?” He said, his ears red. 

“Yes,” he said. He felt the car swerve, and he wasn’t sure if that was Seungwoo or the car. Seungwoo’s eyelashes fluttered as he processed his answer.

“That would be nice,” he said quietly, and that was somehow how everyone ended up together at a restaurant with the strangest atmosphere he had ever encountered.

First of all, Yohan was thrilled. Jinhyuk had never met someone so friendly and eager to make friends as this guy, and it was even more amusing because the ghouls took to him like a moth to a flame. Wooseok was absolutely devastated that he wasn’t the center of attention and actually tried to make conversation with Jinhyuk.

“How have you been?” He asked nicely. Jinhyuk didn’t trust this at all.

“I’ve been good,” he said, avoiding any mention of death gods, or shadow monsters, or ghouls with questionable diets. “How about you?”

“I’m great actually,” he said. “Never been better.

_ Why is he lying? _

Laughter erupted from Yohan and the ghouls who were having the best time, startling Wooseok. Jinhyuk frowned. “I’m sorry you had to come out tonight. I know how you feel about being around people you don’t know.”

Wooseok wouldn’t look at him. “It’s fine. He wanted to do it.”

“He’s nice,” he said. “I like him.”

“Me too,” Wooseok said.  _ Another lie? _

Jinhyuk squinted. 

“I do!” He insisted, hushing him. “Why are you being so nice?”

“Why are you being nice?”

“I’m always nice.”

Jinhyuk snorted. “You’re never nice.”

Wooseok gave him a strange look. “People can change.”

Jinhyuk looked at Yohan who was a literal magnet for his ghouls and suddenly had a thought. He had learned in this world there were no coincidences or strange occurrences. “You did for him.”

Wooseok looked flustered. 

“I can see that he’s someone with a pure soul,” Jinhyuk said. It felt strange, but maybe his reaper senses were tingling. Or maybe Yohan wasn’t the human he seemed to be. “I’ve never met an angel before, but he looks like he could be one.”

Wooseok coughed. “An angel. What are you saying, please. Your fake boyfriend has got you acting sentimental. You’ll find someone soon.”

“It’s not fake,” Jinhyuk said calmly, his eyes never leaving Seungwoo’s smiling face. Seeing him there surrounded by the others in a place that wasn’t stressful filled him with warmth. Seungwoo sensed him staring and smiled at him, and it was Wooseok who turned away embarrassed.

“When did that happen?” Wooseok said, surprised and a little hurt.

“A while ago,” he said. He didn’t care about curses, or prophecies, or destinies, because he had always had a thing for Seungwoo since the day they met. He knew he had fallen in love with him the night Seungwoo died holding his unconscious burrito body, and he had hoped that he would just get over it in time, but he was glad he never had to.

“He’s handsome,” Wooseok admitted. “How in the world did you…”

“Fate, I guess,” he sighed.

Wooseok gagged.

“Sorry,” Jinhyuk said.

“This is so hard to watch,” Wooseok cringed, and Jinhyuk laughed. They didn’t have to be friends, but if the ghouls ended up adopting Yohan, they would have to learn to be friendly with each other unless Wooseok wanted to get himself run over.

After dinner, the group walked to the bowling alley nearby, and Seungwoo lingered back to walk with him and Wooseok. “Thanks for inviting us out.”

Wooseok blinked, surprised. Maybe he was expecting Seungwoo to be threatened by him, but Seungwoo wasn’t threatened by anything.

“No problem, it was really Yohan’s idea,” he said as they followed behind the larger half of the group. 

“He’s a good kid,” Seungwoo said. “I think too good.”

“My thoughts exactly,” Jinhyuk gave him a knowing look.

Wooseok frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Seungwoo and Jinhyuk smiled at each other knowing how annoyed it made Wooseok. Jinhyuk reached for Seungwoo’s hand who took it naturally, and the three of them walked together to the bowling alley. Wooseok shivered to himself in the cold and looked at Yohan sadly who didn’t seem to notice, too busy talking about sports with Yuvin. Seungwoo took his coat off and passed it to him.

“Oh, I’m okay,” he insisted.

“Take it, he’s warm,” Jinhyuk said, feeling generous and a bit sorry for him. Seungwoo gave him an encouraging nod, and Wooseok put on his jacket, not sure how to feel about it. Did he deserve it? No. Did Jinhyuk or Seungwoo care? Also no. 

They finally reached the bowling alley, and Yohan looked back for Wooseok. 

“Oh, I didn’t realize you were cold,” he frowned, sorry. “I should have been paying more attention.”

“No! It’s fine! They made me!” He insisted. “I’m not cold!”

Yohan swooped in and kissed him for an apology, and Jinhyuk’s heart dropped. Not because it was his ex boyfriend, but because it was something he couldn’t do. Seungwoo also shifted uncomfortably next to him, and they joined the other ghouls without saying anything.

There was a part of bowling that Jinhyuk hadn’t thought about, and that was the amount of effort it took to roll a sixteen pound bowling ball down the lane and actually knock over the pins.

Byungchan was slumped over in his seat, groaning in agony and rubbing his arm.

“This is horrible,” Yuvin whined, exhausted.

Seungyoun whimpered.

“Are they okay,” Yohan asked, horrified.

“They’re just tired,” Jinhyuk insisted. “You know how it is.”

“They only played one game,” Wooseok pointed out.

“Yep,” Jinhyuk said. There wasn’t anything more he could say about them. They were lazy and useless when they had to exert. Even Seungwoo was doubled over out of breath. 

Yohan and Wooseok waited for an explanation, but Jinhyuk just pressed his lips together without offering one. 

“Do we need to take them to the hospital?” Yohan asked, worried.

“No, they’re fine,” Jinhyuk said. 

Seungyoun wailed. “No we are not!”

“They’re fine,” he repeated, staring off into space wondering how he could get them all home. “Well, it was nice seeing you guys. Take care. Come on, everyone let’s get you to bed.”

Yohan and Wooseok stood there baffled as they watched Jinhyuk struggle to make them stand up on their feet. 

“Up, up, up,” he said. “Let’s go home!”

They groaned and eventually got up, too tired to walk without leaning onto each other.

“There we go,” Jinhyuk said. “Nice and slow. Let’s get to the car..

_ The car! _

Jinhyuk raised his voice a little too loud for indoors, but the balls crashing into pins in the distance helped block him out. “It sure would be nice if the car was right outside!”

He opened the door, and Seungwoo’s car was parked at the front, and he sighed in relief. He shoveled everyone in one by one. Yuvin, Seungyoun, and Byungchan were shoved into the backseat, and Seungwoo took the passengers. That meant Jinhyuk had to drive home, but Jinhyuk did not know how to drive.

He closed the door and put his hands on the wheel. It felt cold and unfamiliar. 

“Excuse me, car,” he said nicely. The lights turned on, and he let out another breath. “Would you mind taking us home? I don’t know what I’m doing.”

The radio came on on its own playing Come Fly With Me by Frank Sinatra, and the car slowly made its way down the road by itself. Jinhyuk held on to the wheel as if he had to, but the car didn’t care which way he turned it. It was busy taking Seungwoo home.

After a while, Seungwoo shifted in his seat as his energy returned to him. 

“How’d we do?” He said.

“You did great,” Jinhyuk lied. “I didn’t know ghouls could be so good at bowling.”

Seungwoo smiled, pleased with the compliment. They were so strange, but Jinhyuk wouldn’t trade any of them for the world.

They rode silently as the others slept in the back and the car played music that would soothe them after their exhausting night of doing nothing.

“I’ve been thinking,” Jinhyuk said quietly.

“Hmm?”

“I think I’m going to quit my job,” he said.

“Why’s that?”

“Because I don’t feel like I can be normal anymore. Being around Wooseok and Yohan tonight made me realize that I don’t want to be. I’m not human anymore, am I.”

“No, you’re not,” Seungwoo said, sorrowful. “Does that bother you?”

Jinhyuk shook his head. “All my life, I felt like I was living someone else’s life. No matter what I did, it felt like the world was trying to eject me out of it, but now that I’ve found where I belong, I don’t feel like I’m supposed to fit into it anymore.”

Seungwoo nodded. “It feels like that, doesn’t it. A part of you wants to blend in, and that’s the human part, but the non-human part can’t. That’s why we watch so much television. We don’t know how we’re supposed to be anymore, but at least we can copy when we need to.”

“You’re doing great,” Jinhyuk said. “I don’t think anyone suspects anything.”

Seungwoo smiled and took his hand. “You’re going to be a great reaper. You’re going to help people.”

“You think so?”

“You’ve already helped me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There’s only onr chapter left, and I’m honestly so happy that you guys stuck with me this long. Thank you thank you thank you thank you. Please continue to support all of the produce x trainees, their home groups, their future groups, and X1.


	19. The Ultimate Sacrifice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cursed Roommates comes to an end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone!! As expected, I am early except this time for the last time. Thank you all so much for sticking with me for this long. I really hope you enjoyed the whole story!!!! 
> 
> Again THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH YOU KEPT ME MOTIVATED AND BUSY AND HELPED ME GROW A LOT AS A WRITER WITH YOR SUPPORT AND COMMENTS

It had been just over a week since the god of death left them alone. His visit had changed things, but not in the way that Seungwoo had expected. It didn’t trigger the apocalypse, and no one died in their sleep, but there was a strange stillness that lingered in the way only death could cause.

But perhaps that was Jinhyuk. 

Seungwoo had just returned from taking him to work when Dongwook was ready to leave them again for a few hundred years. Seungwoo wasn’t exactly in a hurry to have him back, though. He had waited his whole life to meet his maker, and only half the legends were true. He was a gambler and a reckless fool, but he was about as terrifying as a stuffed nose.

“Well, I hate to eat and run, but I have a date with the gods of fate and fortune, and I do  _ not  _ want to be late for that,” he chuckled as he secured his black brimmed hat on his head.

Seungwoo gave him his best pandering smile. “So, do you have any tips for us before you leave?”

He hummed. “Jinhyuk will know what to do, but just guard the door and make sure nothing slips out.”

Seungwoo flared his nostrils. Jinhyuk didn’t know anything. That was the point. Gods knew everything. That’s what they were there for. Dare he ask him to actually get involved…

So he left, and the ghouls had a meeting. Dongwook had mentioned separating them, causing an uneasy shift in the apartment. Seungwoo would have never let that happen, but it was Jinhyuk who leveraged for them so he needed to make sure that they knew that they weren’t in any danger from him specifically.

“He’s not going to hurt us,” Seungwoo started. “Unless one of us goes feral which isn’t going to happen because we’ve spent two thousand years getting harvesting down to a science. But we have to work with him to guard the door even though only like two things have ever slipped out of there since we’ve been here.”

The others nodded silently. 

“And both of those times it was because Jinhyuk was reapering, so I’m sure once he’s done with that, it’ll settle down again.”

“So we’re not being sent away,” Seungyoun asked.

“No, it’s too hard for him to make more reapers, and it seems that Jinhyuk is the only one he has.”

“It’s funny,” Yuvin said. “It turns out that the one person I thought capable of pushing us apart is the only one actually capable of telling a god to shove it.”

“He wasn’t going to push us apart,” Seungwoo said.

“Things are different now,” Byungchan said. “You’re different. You’re soft now, and you act like a human, like a real human. We talked about it a lot, and if you two ran away together, it would be okay because you could finally be happy.”

“Hey,” he said, walking across the living room to give Byungchan a hug. “I am happy. I’ve always been happy ever since we found each other. I promise! I was never going to leave you guys. Ever. Not until we’re all cured.”

“Cured?” Seungyoun said. It was something he had searched for his entire life. All of the lab equipment in his room was dedicated to finding the cause of their great affliction. As science and medicine modernised, Seungyoun had been sure that he was closer to the answer than ever before. He studied viruses, bacteria, genetics, and even took samples from Jinhyuk when he was sleeping to test his human blood and then his reaper blood. “What are you talking about?”

Seungwoo nodded. “It turns out we’re all doing some kind of long penance for what we did when we were alive. When we’re done, we get to cross over.”

Seungyoun blinked like he couldn’t believe it. “How long?”

“I’ve been alive for two thousand years,” he said solemnly because he didn’t know for sure. “But apparently I killed the most people.”

Byungchan flashed him a look, seeing his memory before Seungwoo could push it away. “How do you remember?”

“Because he showed it to me probably because he was pissed that I didn’t roll over and wag my tail when he got here.”

“That’s cold,” Yuvin said.

“Dude’s a jerk,” Seungwoo agreed.

“So what are we supposed to do?” Seungyoun asked.

“Be good people and guard the door until Jinhyuk gets the okay to send us over, I guess,” he sighed. “You wanna call him back and ask?”

“No,” everyone said.

Their meeting had been short but sweet. They had a renewed sense of purpose, and everyone stopped worrying about their resident grim reaper. After a while of sitting around waiting for the day to pass, Seungwoo realized he missed him so he went to the cafe early again. 

A part of him had been nervous. What if he got there, and Jinhyuk had decided that he sided with the wrong person? What if he wanted to call Dongwook back and renegotiate? Seungwoo had never met a reaper before, but if they were truly neutral, he wouldn’t have picked Seungwoo over his eternal charge… What if he came to his senses and decided that ghouls were indeed just glorified guard dogs. He almost turned around to sit in the park instead, but he wanted to see him at least to say goodbye properly if it came to that.

But when he went inside, Jinhyuk smiled so hard he almost dropped a pitcher of heated milk all over the counter. Seungwoo immediately relaxed. He wasn’t scary or darkened in any way. He was just Jinhyuk.

That night as they drove home (or as the car drove them home, rather), Jinhyuk said he wanted to quit his job, but Seungwoo wasn’t so sure that was a good idea. Working at the coffee shop made him happy and gave him a break from the supernatural stuff he had to deal with at home. It was  _ normal  _ for Seungwoo, but Jinhyuk had suffered too many sleepless nights. He didn’t eat properly anymore. He had seen some scary shit before he even got to move in with the rest of his things. At least the coffee shop was something of his old life even if two mischievous sprites worked there.

It turned out quitting his job was the best choice he could have made because Jinhyuk was exhausted. He couldn’t stop sleeping, and at first they thought it was just because he was home more and had nothing else to do, but Byungchan confirmed that that wasn’t the case.

He was  _ reaping.  _ All night long and during the day when he napped, he was tracking down scattered angry souls to banish them. Byungchan was too frightened to sleep next to him anymore, but when Seungwoo had popped his head in to check on him, Jinhyuk was shivering and crying in his sleep. He couldn’t do it alone.

So they took turns with him. Seungwoo spent most of his time with him while he slept, but Yuvin and Seungyoun stepped in to make it easier. Jinhyuk slept in Seungwoo’s bed at night instead of his own because it was bigger and because Byungchan would get so frightened by seeing what Jinhyuk saw that he would end up on the floor during the night. During the day when he napped, it wasn’t as bad. His body would heat up, almost scalding whoever’s lap he rested on, but Byungchan could stand to be in the same room with him when he nap-reaped.

It was Seungwoo’s turn to hold him again. Jinhyuk slept with his head on his thigh while Seungwoo read a book to pass the time. He felt something wet on his leg, and Jinhyuk was crying. He never told them what he saw, but Byungchan said he cried whenever he helped someone crossover. He waited until the body on the couch stopped shaking to wake him. 

“Jinhyuk, you need to eat,” he said softly. He couldn’t remember the last time the human has a meal. 

Jinhyuk scrunched his nose, not ready to wake up. 

“You have to wake up,” he coaxed him. 

Jinhyuk opened his red swollen eyes and looked around, not sure where he was.

“What time is it,” he groaned.

“About 3 in the afternoon,” Seungwoo guessed.

He groaned and buried his face in Seungwoo’s thigh. 

“You need to eat,” he insisted. “You’re all skin and bones.”

“You’re skin and bones,” he said. “When’s the last time  _ you  _ ate?”

“I’m a ghoul,” Seungwoo said plainly. “I’m not supposed to have muscles.”

“I don’t need muscles,” he said, closing his eyes. “I need to sleep.”

“Up, up, up,” Seungwoo insisted, forcing him to sit up. “If you don’t eat, I’m going to show you how noisy ghouls can be.”

He frowned. “I’m not hungry.”

“Maybe I want to have dinner with you,” Seungwoo said. It was a little manipulative, but he knew what he had to do to get his attention.

Jinhyuk blinked. “Oh, alright.”

“Come help me cook,” Seungwoo insisted, worried that Jinhyuk would just fall asleep again if he turned his back. They walked together to the kitchen to find something to eat.

“How are you on meat,” Jinhyuk asked. 

“We’re okay for now,” he said. “But we’re going to have to go find some more soon.”

Jinhyuk nodded. “I’ll go back with you to The Docks, and we’ll take whatever they can’t sell.”

Seungwoo looked at him in surprise. “Are you sure you want to go back there?”

“I’m not letting you go alone, and what are they gonna do? Kill me?” 

_ “Let me,”  _ Seungwoo scoffed, having taken care of himself since before Jinhyuk was a twinkle in a god’s eye, but a part of him was giddy like a teenager in love. “Hey, do reapers eat people?”

“What?”

“Do you think you’d have more energy if you ate people meat?” 

Jinhyuk considered it. “I haven’t thought about it before.”

Seungwoo pulled out a leftover container of sautéed lungs and opened the lid. “Smell this.”

Jinhyuk leaned towards the open container, curious. He closed his eyes and sniffed the meat, expecting something miraculous. Instead he gagged and almost had to run off to the bathroom. “Nope!”

“Just thought I’d ask,” Seungwoo shrugged. He lifted the container to his own nose and sniffed. “Smells fine to me.”

Seungyoun came in soon after hearing voices. “Did Jinhyuk try the people?”

“No, I was just checking to see if maybe that was why he’s so tired,” Seungwoo said, disappointed.

“He’s tired because he won’t eat anything,” he said.

“I’m fine,” Jinhyuk said, annoyed.

“You burn more calories now than any human body ever should,” Seungyoun said, a secret medical expert from all of the materials he had to study. “Of course you feel like you’re dying. You need to look at it like it’s a marathon.”

Seungwoo and Jinhyuk looked at each other. He was making a lot of sense. Jinhyuk wasn’t just dreaming, he was  _ fighting.  _ Even if his body was there on the couch or on someone’s bed, his spirit was running around the world hunting down the horrors of the other side.

“You gotta bulk up, Buttercup,” Seungyoun said. 

Byungchan went to the ghost market for them, and once he told the granny what was happening, it was like the neighborhood ghost merchants assembled. Spirits had a different kind of appreciation for reapers apparently. To them, reapers weren’t hunters but ushers to the otherside when they were ready to move on. Jinhyuk was like a loving bus driver to them.

That meant that there was suddenly a bunch of ghosts outside of the apartment building that had never once felt the need to step foot there. They had pizza, large clay pots of fermented foods, steamed buns, hamburgers, boxes of meat and vegetables, and enough rice to stuff the pillows with. 

Soon the whole kitchen overflowed with enough ghost food to wake up the reaper. Jinhyuk was embarrassed but otherwise touched. He had an important job to do, and he needed his strength to get it done.

A few days passed, and Jinhyuk returned to normal. He still reaped in his sleep, but he needed less naps during the day. He still chose not to talk about his job, but he mentioned once that he was able to cover a lot more ground when he was asleep now that he was eating well. He and Seungwoo even made plans to go out on a date now that he was feeling better. Seungwoo was so excited he couldn’t stand it. He had never been on a date before. What would they do? Go for a walk at the park to see the new colors on the trees? Spend the evening at the beach? Watch a movie? The possibilities were endless. He had only seen dates in movies or read about them in books, but he had an absolutely positive opinion about them. He changed into something nice like he wore when he pretended to be Jinhyuk’s date at Wooseok’s art show, and then returned to the living room to get teased by the others.

“Our leader is all grown up,” Seungyoun teased.

Byungchan squeezed his cheeks. “Going on your first date already!”

“Shut up,” Seungwoo laughed, but he was so happy. Maybe he really was “a real boy” again. If this was what the rest of eternity was going to be like, he thought he could manage it.

Jinhyuk came out from his room, horribly red faced. 

“Are you okay,” Seungyoun asked at the lobster visage.

Jinhyuk laughed. “Yeah, I’m just nervous.”

Seungyoun, Yuvin, and Byungchan let out a collective “awwww,” and Seungwoo thought he was going to have to kill him.

Jinhyuk pretended that he wasn’t humiliated. “Are you ready to go?”

“Yeah, let’s go,” Seungwoo said. He couldn’t wait to get out of there, but then there was a knock on the door. There was never a dock on the door. Everyone looked around at each other, and Seungwoo counted the group with his finger including himself. “We’re all here.”

There was another knock at the door.

“Could it be a ghost?” Jinhyuk asked.

“They would never come inside the building,” Seungwoo said, wary. “Even if they know it’s safe.”

Seungyoun and Yuvin looked at each other. 

There was a third knock.

“Someone has to answer it,” Seungyoun said.

“Do we really,” Byungchan said. “Maybe they’ve got the wrong address.”

Seungwoo’s lips thinned. Only the dead could find their apartment.

“Wait,” Jinhyuk said. He went into his room and came back with his scythe strapped to his back. He made himself a harness for it while he had free time to make it easier to carry. Seungwoo raised his eyebrow, but he didn’t say anything.

Seungwoo approached the door with Jinhyuk close behind. When he opened it, a familiar fatherly face looked back at them looking friendly but otherwise disheveled.

“Dongwook?” Seungwoo said, surprised.

“Hi, can I come in?”

“Uh, sure,” he said, stepping aside. “Didn’t know you wouldn’t just let yourself in when you felt like it.”

“Haven’t you ever heard the phrase ‘when death comes knocking’,” he chuckled, but he looked anxious.

Dongwook eyed the scythe but walked in anyway, wary.

“What are you doing here?” Seungwoo asked.

“Ah, yes, we seem to have a problem.”

_ “We?”  _ Seungwoo and Jinhyuk said at the same time. 

“Well, you now I suppose, since it’s really out of my hands,” he laughed. Seungwoo and Jinhyuk did not return his amusement.

“I was having drinks with the god of chaos as one does, and I may have… lost the key to the other side.”

“There was a key?!” Seungwoo screeched.

“If there was a key, why didn’t you give it to us,” Jinhyuk demanded, ready to reach out and grab him by the throat. “We’re supposed to be guarding the goddamn door, and you could have just  _ locked it?” _

“I don’t know if I appreciate your tone right now,” Dongwook said, taken aback.

“I don’t know if I appreciate this situation right now,” Jinhyuk said, wild eyed.

“What do you mean you lost it?” Seungwoo stepped in between them before he had to vacuum up bits of a shredded death god from his doorstep.

“Apparently chaos gods are very good at playing craps,” he said. “But that’s not important. What’s important is that the whole other side is falling apart outside right as we speak.”

Seungwoo and Jinhyuk looked at each other in horror and ran down the stairs to the front of the building. The  _ door  _ was open. Not the shitty door that they bricked up at Apartment 211 on the Left. But the  _ real  _ door. The veil was torn open and the shadows spilled out, threatening to swallow up the living world. They had to do something.

They ran back inside, and Dongwook was gone. They didn’t have enough time to ask questions, so the ghouls and Jinhyuk suited the fuck up. Armed with hoodies, masks, and oven mitts, they ran back out together as a group to try to stop the shadows from getting out.

The loose vengeful spirits shrieked and screeched as they spilled out into the world. 

“Don’t let them touch you,” Seungwoo shouted out.

“What do we do,” Seungyoun shouted back.

“Keep them in the neighborhood,” Jinhyuk said. “Knock them towards me if you can, and I’ll take care of them.”

The group understood and spread out. They swung anything they could get their hands on at the shadows, steering them towards Jinhyuk. His feet were planted in the center of the road, and he whipped his scythe around as easily as if he were harvesting wheat except his eyes were black and dark smoke radiated off of him and his weapon. If they survived this, he reminded himself to never get on his bad side.

“Watch out!” Byungchan called out, and Seungwoo dropped to the ground, too busy admiring the reaper to notice the harpy that flew over his head. That was all they needed. Another harpy.

“I got it! Jinhyuk shouted. “Hey, bird brain!”

The harpy screeched and dove at him, but he swung his scythe in a broad arch that cut through it like butter. It fell in two pieces to the ground that disappeared as soon as it dropped into a pile of feathers.

“Gross,” Seungwoo grimaced. He pushed himself back up to keep fighting.

One by one they knocked the shadows back towards Jinhyuk, and they seemed to be winning but then the sun started to set. The neighborhood was a strange and unpredictable place at night when the veil was at its most fragile, and as the sun dipped over the horizon and as their energy faded, there was an explosion. 

Dark spirits poured out in numbers he had never seen before, and they couldn’t hold them off. What was worse was that the structures were falling apart. It was too much. The living world couldn’t handle the collapse of the door. And Jinhyuk was wearing out. 

He heard a crash and looked up. A swirling black and purple vortex spilled out from the window of Apartment 211 on the Left.  _ Of course. _

“Everyone come here,” he shouted out. Seungwoo felt a terrible ache in his chest, but he knew there was only one way they could stop it. He had to be brave.

The others followed, not sure why they were stopping, but he needed just enough time to tell them his plan and to say goodbye.

“I’m going to close the door,” he said.

“You can’t, the key is gone,” Seungyoun said. 

“I’m going to  _ close  _ it.”

Jinhyuk turned around and swallowed. He was holding off the shadows for them, but he looked back at Seungwoo in horror, knowing what he meant to do.

“What are you going to do?” Byungchan asked.

“You can’t leave if there isn’t a door to walk through,” he said, his voice shaking.

“How do you know that’s going to work?” Yuvin frowned. 

“Do you have any other ideas?”

Yuvin didn’t say anything.

Byungchan lunged forward and threw his arms around him.

“You can’t go,” he said, starting to cry. “You can’t leave me.”

“It’s okay,” he said, giving him a kiss on the cheek. “It’s going to be okay. It’s time for me to go on a long vacation anyway.”

Byungchan broke out into a sob on his shoulder. ”But you’re my best friend…”

“You’re my best friend too,” he said quietly, almost losing his resolve. The tears welled up in his eyes, and he wasn’t sure he could go through with it. He wasn’t sure he wanted to go through with it.

“Come here,” Yuvin said softly, pulling Byungchan away who was full on sobbing like a child saying goodbye to his father.

Seungyoun walked up to him next and gave him a big hug. “Are you sure about this?”

“No,” he said quietly. He gave his old friend a pat on the back. “Take care of Byungchan for me.”

Seungyoun pulled away and turned his back to him, unable to look. Seungwoo didn’t want to see him cry either if he was honest. He wanted them all to let him go and live their lives without regrets. Yuvin nodded to him as a goodbye, and Seungwoo went inside alone.

He closed the door behind him and hoped the others could hold off the shadows until he brought the door down. 

Seungwoo kept a lot of things in his building. They were his treasures, but most importantly, they all had a purpose. He dug around the rooms downstairs until he found the items he needed — a gas canister and a sledgehammer. He lugged them upstairs by himself, the pain in his chest unbearable. Was that what it meant to be human? To feel grief? He refused to cry. He wouldn’t break down no matter how much he wanted to. He had to die so they could live.

He grabbed the sledgehammer, and he swung. The first swing bounced off the bricks, and he knew he needed to focus. He cried out and forced the metal block through until the bricks tumbled to the ground. With each swing, the pain in his chest lightened, and he was ready again. This was going to work.

Once he was able to get into the apartment, he took the gas canister and doused the cursed apartment. He made a trail all the way to the mirrored bedrooms where he found a framed photo of himself with the others. He took the picture out of the frame and shoved it in his back pocket. He wasn’t going to burn that. 

He poured the fuel over the furniture, and he only had a few moments left to get out before something noticed he was inside.

He ran down the stairs of the mirrored building outside. It was quiet there. The other side was peaceful even though it was imploding. It was strange to know that he stood in the same spot only moments before in a world where his family was, but it wasn’t time to get sentimental. He lit a match and tossed it onto the fuel. 

The flames crept up into the building, and soon he saw an angry orange glow coming from the apartment. The glass shattered with a fireball and he sighed, watching his world burn without him. All he could do was pray that it worked.

“So you were really just going to leave without saying goodbye to me,” a voice said from behind. Seungwoo jumped.

“What the fuck are you doing here,” he said, panicked. “You can’t be here! You have to go back!”

He lurched forward to grab him shirt, but Jinhyuk caught him. “They can find a new reaper. I quit.”

_ “No, you can’t be here,”  _ Seungwoo said, his lips quivering. “You don’t know what that means.”

Jinhyuk sighed. “That’s what the others said too when I ran in after you. How long has it been since you fed?”

“A couple days,” his voice cracked. 

“So we have some time,” he said, softly. 

“You know what’s going to happen to me…”

Jinhyuk looked back at him, the corners of his mouth pulling down. “Just promise you’ll give me a head start, okay?”

Seungwoo buried his face in his chest and wept. In about a week, he would die, and he would wake up a feral monster. He knew what he signed up for. He was prepared to wander eternity as a rabid ghoul until his own flesh deteriorated and the shadows claimed him. But now Jinhyuk was trapped with him, and he was going to have to kill him before he had the chance to rip Jinhyuk apart. If he didn’t kill and eat him, Jinhyuk would be lost inside for all eternity alone.

“Hey, don’t cry,” Jinhyuk said. “It’s going to be okay.”

“You shouldn’t have come here,” he said as he sobbed, soaking Jinhyuk’s shoulder. “You don’t even know where the other doors are.”

“I’ll find them,” he said. “We will find them and get out together.”

“I won’t make it that long,” he wept.

“Don’t think like that,” he said quietly. He took Seungwoo’s swollen face in his hands and looked into both of his eyes with a gentle smile like he wasn’t afraid of anything. The scythe on his back cast a shadow that blocked out the burning sky, and Seungwoo could finally see him. He was beautiful, and he was sure this is what death was supposed to look like.

They leaned in to each other and pressed their lips together. Seungwoo didn’t know what a kiss was supposed to feel like either, but he finally understood what all the fuss was about.

At first it was soft and unsure, Jinhyuk still holding onto Seungwoo’s face. But then his hands dropped, and their heads tilted to find each other. Seungwoo grabbed onto him and felt his own mouth part slightly, inviting a deeper kiss that made the world go silent. All they had was their little gasps for air as electric pulses shot up and down his spine. If this was how he had to spend his final days, it was a good way to go. 

Their kisses became more desperate and frantic as their own fates dropped down upon them, and Seungwoo couldn’t breathe, but he didn’t want to. The warmth of the burning building faded, and he was wrapped by an intense cold that surely came from having all the blood in his body rush from his head.

“Guys,” Seungyoun said. “You good?”

Seungwoo pushed himself away from Jinhyuk, startled.

“What the  _ fuck _ are you guys doing here?” He looked at Seungyoun, Yuvin, and Byungchan in horror who looked back at him, traumatized. “You crossed over?”

“No,  _ you did,”  _ Seungyoun said. “Look.”

Seungwoo looked around at his neighborhood that was very much  _ his  _ neighborhood. “What happened?”

“I don’t know. Jinhyuk ran in after you, and then like twenty minutes later everything stopped and then there was a loud boom, a bunch of white light, and you two making out in the middle of the road. Really, if you just needed some privacy, all you had to do was ask. You didn’t have to be so dramatic,” Seungyoun said.

Seungwoo wiped the tears from his eyes. “Shut up.”

“How did this happen,” Jinhyuk said, amazed.

“Maybe you two did it,” Byungchan said. 

“They kissed themselves out of the other side,” Seungyoun said in disbelief. “Yeah right.”

“Maybe you guys are in charge now,” Yuvin joked.

Seungwoo looked at Jinhyuk and frowned. 

“Should we try it again, and see if something happens,” Jinhyuk said again, followed by three loud whines.

“Try something,” Seungwoo said. “You’re probably first in line.” 

Jinhyuk raised his scythe in the air, but nothing happened. Seungwoo didn’t have a scythe to hold up, but he closed his eyes and hoped something would happen. He opened one of his eyes. Nothing happened.

“Maybe you guys have to,” Byungchan made a smushing motion with his hands.

They shrugged and leaned in again.

“Wait!” Seungyoun said. “Don’t make us watch that again. Try a high five or something.”

Seungwoo cracked his neck and knuckles. This felt stupid, but there wasn’t another way to explain how they got out in one piece. He pulled his arm back, and Jinhyuk readied his. They kept it waist height and casual and swung. Their palms struck together, and lighting crashed. A burst of white light spilled out into the road like there was a planet sized spotlight.

Everyone shouted in surprise.

The ground rumbled and the buildings shifted around. Everyone jumped back out of the street, and then it happened. A new door opened at the top of the hill the way Jinhyuk had mentioned from his dreams and a procession of souls appeared. They walked towards the light — towards heaven or reincarnation like they were always supposed to. 

“Holy shit,” Seungyoun said in amazement.

Seungwoo looked on in awe, and Jinhyuk smiled. This was what he was doing in his sleep. He was tracking them down, and now they could finally go home. This was what reapers did.

Yuvin stepped forward. “Hey, I know that ghost.”

He pointed towards an old man who limped through the crowd on a cane.

“Hey!” Yuvin called out. The ghosts didn’t seem to hear him. “I know you!”

Seungwoo wanted to stop him, but he was frozen.

“Kookheon!” Yuvin called out. The old man stopped and turned back to him. His face changed into someone young and handsome, and he smiled at Yuvin and waved. Yuvin looked like he was about to collapse. “Kookheon, I’m so sorry!”

The ghost shook his head and pointed towards the light.  _ I’m going home now.  _

“I remember everything,” Yuvin said quietly. “All the bad stuff I did… I’m so sorry.”

Seungwoo patted him on the back. “It’s okay. We just have to help more people cross over, and we’ll be forgiven.”

“How can he forgive me?” Yuvin whispered.

“He doesn’t look that mad to me,” Seungyoun said. “Look how happy he is.”

The ghost named Kookheon stepped into the light where he could finally find peace.

They sat down and watched for about an hour as thousands of souls crossed over. They did it. They fixed the other side. They saved the living world, and no one had to die. It was a good evening.

The last of the souls passed, and they were ready to go inside when two new people appeared from thin air.

They looked young, but looks were deceiving. 

“Lee Jinhyuk and Han Seungwoo?” One said. He was holding an iPad and looking over it like someone official.

“Yes, that’s us,” Jinhyuk stepped forward. He was tense like he was ready to grab his weapon.

“Ah, good,” he said. He had sleepy eyes and didn’t look like he cared if he found them either way. 

“Are you gods?” Seungwoo asked.

“Not exactly,” he said, looking up from his tablet. “My name is Yunseong, and this is my partner Wonjin. We’re here about a notice of transference, but I’m sure you already knew about that.”

“What are you talking about,” Jinhyuk asked.

Wonjin pulled out a sealed box from his sack covered in runes. 

“Here are the keys to the other side as well as a few relevant documents you’ll need,” he explained as Wonjin passed Seungwoo the box. “If you lose any of the contents, there will be a seven to ten business day delay before we can restore them. Do you have any questions?”

“What’s going on?” Seungwoo asked.

“You’ve been promoted to gods of death, congratulations,” he said dryly. 

“God _ zzz _ ?” Jinhyuk said. “There can be two?”

“Apparently,” Yunseong said, sounding bored. “We’re just as baffled as you are.”

Seungwoo and Jinhyuk looked at each other, confused.

Yunseong sighed. “Apparently you two are the only people in the whole universe qualified to be in charge of death. The rest of the information can be found in your documents. Now, if you will excuse us, we have other business to get to.”

“Enjoy working the graveyard shift,” Wonjin spoke for the first time before they vanished.

“What was that…” Seungyoun asked.

“I guess we’re in charge now,” Seungwoo said, surprised.

If someone asked Jinhyuk a year ago if he ever expected to be a grim reaper, he would have laughed in their face. If he was asked if he expected to be a death god, he would have called the police. But he and Seungwoo together became the two gods capable of fixing the other side.

It was rocky at first, and it took a few decades to track down all of the doors, but they were able to eventually fix all of them.

They did everything together because they were powerless without each other. Seungwoo was (affectionately?) known as the Prince of Decay (a title he  _ hated),  _ and Jinhyuk was known as the Prince of Shadows which he felt was a little dramatic. 

They had to be careful when they were together because of their shared power. A few times in the bedroom there were a few incidents where their passion caused a few hiccups in the other side causing them to be caught naked together by a few poor lost ghosts. 

Yohan passed after half a century, and Jinhyuk waited by his side to collect his soul so that he could rest in peace, but the heavens had other ideas for him. Yohan became an angel and helped his friends sort souls where the old god of death said it was too congested. Wooseok turned out to be a trickster, and there Jinhyuk was thinking that he was just mean. He didn’t work with them exactly, but having an angel life partner and a few death gods as friends made working for the realm of chaos more complicated than it normally was supposed to be. 

After a few centuries, the other ghouls paid off their debts. Jinhyuk and Seungwoo never made another ghoul again, but instead found ways for selfish souls to reincarnate into positions where they would have to learn their lessons. Once their debts were paid, they took jobs in the afterlife rather than crossing over. No one was ready to ever say goodbye to Seungwoo again. 

Jinhyuk spent the afterlife with his family who he loved more than himself, and that love was enough to save thousands of souls from disappearing into the shadows, but he would have never lived such a purposeful life without Seungwoo, the ghoul (and the love of his life) who made the ultimate sacrifice to save the world and his family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> na na na na...
> 
> na na na na...
> 
> hey hey hey...
> 
> goodbye...

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Please let me know what you think!


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